Make freedom reign again
Hesitate and falter, or help Ukraine win. There is no middle ground.
What comes after the politics of resentment, fear, and polarization?
We’ve spent years diagnosing the ailments affecting Free Societies—our divisions and dysfunctions—but have come back empty-handed. We looked for solutions in policy debates and opinion polls but still missed the answer hiding in plain sight: Ukraine.
This brave nation, its fearless people, and their righteous fight stand as a manifestation of freedom itself, proof that moral clarity still matters, virtue exists, and courage can confront tyranny.
We’ve been caught in a spiral of introspection, struggling to rediscover our values. After eighty years of relative peace, we have been rewarded with—and condemned to—a life in a post-heroic era.
But there is a place in the world where the question 'Is there something worth dying for?' is not a theoretical abstraction or an empty slogan—it is a lived reality. Kyiv is that place. And freedom is that something.
Russia invaded to kill Ukrainians for being Ukrainian. Such disturbing truth is hard for Western intellectuals to grasp. Some offer wild theories—blaming NATO or even Ukraine for being invaded—or entertain the idea that Russia cannot be defeated and thus helping Ukraine is futile.
Such dangerous musings bury the truth: Ukraine is a nation of 40 million people—women and men, like you and me, with families, dreams, aspirations, a unique history, and a vision for the future. Ukrainians are not fighting because they want to but because the alternative is annihilation.
Ukraine’s courage is a profound gift — a reminder of what we claim to believe: that freedom is foundational. Yet we’ve viewed Russia’s criminal war through a lens of cutting losses, hoping that the problem will solve itself. The result is a failed policy of incrementalism. We mislabel this as “escalation management,” but it has predictably and repeatedly triggered Moscow to double down on aggression.
A common mistake we make is to conflate the ten-year war the Kremlin chose to wage in Europe with America’s interventions in Iraq or Afghanistan. When faced with an evil empire intent on wiping your homeland off the map, Ukraine’s fight is not a discretionary choice but a stand for survival. Equating these conflicts obscures the moral clarity of Ukraine’s right to self-defence and erodes the sense of urgency to step up our support.
Another obstacle standing in the way of our commitment to Ukraine’s victory is a postmodern disdain for separating right from wrong. In an age where ethical judgment is often dismissed as simplistic or vain, we hesitate to acknowledge the valiance of Ukraine’s fight. Our contemporary intellectual framework leads to the fear of victory itself—a discomfort with the idea that good can and should triumph over evil. This paralysis undermines the will to confront tyranny with the clarity and resolve it demands.
The final misconception is interpreting Russia’s actions through a Western lens. Russia is not a nation driven by national interests but an empire motivated by revanchism, conquest, and oppression. Its invasion of Ukraine is not a calculated bid for territory or resources but a desperate attempt to sustain the illusion that its colonial system has purpose. Subjugation is not a flaw of Russian governance—it is its defining feature.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory plan offers practical benefits for Ukraine’s allies: critical minerals vital to energy independence, a battle-hardened military essential for regional stability, and reduced reliance on U.S. security umbrella in Europe. These are tangible, strategic considerations, but they pale in comparison to the intrinsic value Ukraine’s bravery offers: the chance for America to recall what we stand for.
Can Ukraine win this war? Of course, it can. But even asking the question is a sleight of hand—a way of shifting our shared responsibility onto Ukrainians who have already done more than their fair share – fighting and dying for freedom.
Victory over Russia is a categorical imperative for all who don’t want to live in fear.
No one is more desperate for this war to end than Ukrainians. Every day costs them dearly—in lives lost, homes destroyed, children kidnapped. But if the guns fell silent tomorrow, would we—the Free World—call it a ‘problem solved’?
There is peace, and there is peace. Occupation isn’t it. Unpunished aggression isn’t it either. Peace without justice is a harbinger of a bigger war. If we push Ukraine to surrender and dress it up as diplomacy, we’ll embolden tyrants everywhere and undermine the security of the U.S. and our allies for decades to come.
Russia counts on our indifference. To subjugate Ukraine, Moscow is willing to sacrifice much—its economy, international standing, and the welfare of its people—while fiercely protecting its grip on power and its repressive imperial system. Putin is convinced that we are unwilling to sacrifice anything for Ukraine’s freedom.
If we falter or give in to nuclear blackmail, we betray the values that define us. We announce to the world that our commitments are fleeting and our policies driven not by principle but by convenience.
The choice is stark: will we stand up with Ukraine to help it drive the invaders out and prove freedom still matters? Or will we surrender the moral clarity we once knew to fear and apathy? Ukraine’s courage is an awesome gift—we must not waste it.
A version of this article first appeared in Real Clear World on December 19, 2024