We cannot afford to wait with supporting Ukraine. Our current hesitancy is not just endangering our friends and allies, but will work against us in the future as well.
Aliens attack Earth. They land in the country of Somewhereistan and are starting to establish a stronghold in a part of the country. The country is close to other countries crucial for European and American security, so American and European politicians and people are scrambling to help.
After some months though, it appears that some countries have made secret deals with the aliens and are sabotaging global efforts to help. There are rumors that the country of Somewhereistan is suffering from corruption, and maybe, they have known about the alien threat and communicated with them before. Maybe there are some ancient alien sites in the country, and the aliens somehow have a right to invade.
It seems that the military power of the aliens is immense – but not infinite. With enough effort, they can be beaten back, but it will affect us all to a small degree. Maybe the aliens will stay there, maybe we can contain them, maybe the country can make some kind of deal of giving up territory to let the aliens establish a military base. Rumors of extermination of the citizens of Somewhereistan are played down. After all, we do not want to create unnecessary xenophobia – we may want to make deals with the aliens later as well. We probably had deals with them, which is why they did not attack us in the first place. After all, Somewhereistan is far away, not part of our culture, whatever that means, and we have no obligation to help. We all have problems of our own. The country has never been an ally, even though they have wanted to become one.
The fight drags on, and there is still enough will for support. But we prefer to argue about domestic issues, arcane procedural rules, we have elections coming up, other countries as well, and even the dictatorships of the world need to keep their people happy. Somewhereistan increasingly looks to be alone.
We do not know yet that the aliens will attack us or our allies in the near future. Because of our inaction and ridiculous excuses, other countries are now not coming to our help. After all, did we not basically side with the aliens back then by not backing Somewhereistan? Did we not stay silent about the genocide of the population of the invaded country? What is our alliance system worth? The allies of the aliens are now outspoken and begin to pick off our allies one by one, but we are still unwilling to help – and increasingly, unable.
For the rest of history, people will marvel at how American democracy achieved great things in the past, helping win two world wars and a cold war, but after that, how the country became satiated, uninterested in the world in spite of relying on a global trade empire, and domestic troubles became more important than the global community. Books about “The Fall of the American Empire” will stand next to those about the Roman empire, and there will be similar confusion about how this could have possibly have happened. The cause of democracy, of human rights and rule by law, as well as planetary collaboration, will be set back by at least 500 or 1000 years. Due to our downfall, spaceflight has basically stopped. We will have no more defenses against further alien attacks, and the alien stronghold in what used to be the US will grow and eventually threaten the entire planet.
You know what I am talking about. To be sure, Russians are not aliens, even though their political system is very alien to ours. We do not want to understand what we understood in the past about imperial and Nazi Germany and imperial Japan and the Soviet Union: Russia (meaning, the Russian leadership) is not interested in peace. It is interested in territory. It is not interested in collaboration. It is interested in domination. It is not interested in people – whether Ukrainian or Russian or Belarussian – only in resources. It is not interested in development, only in using the resources to make a very few people rich. It is not interested in traditional values or religion or social justice or decolonization, these are just smokescreens to make us confused, both on the right and the left. The Russian people who have stayed in the country are scared or brainwashed into submission, they have been conditioned to be passive, and to be subjects instead of citizens. I know that mindset very well, I grew up in a similar system.
Our current inability in the West to see beyond partisan and domestic issues – no matter how important they be – are alienating all our allies, all our friends, even our enemies. Is Putin right that we are weak? That we are satiated, decadent, complacent, ignorant, managing and even embracing our decline? Are we suffering from collective fatigue?
The United States is in a geographical position in which it may feel it can go it alone. To a certain degree, that may be true, for a while. Canada is an ally, Mexico not a threat, and the oceans are a great buffer. But we do rely on global trade and resources and production. Without the United States, marine trade routes are in perpetual danger. We have already seen how European wars have drawn the United States in at the last moment. The lesson we had learned after World War II was to stay engaged, and what followed was – in spite of the Cold War – a period of relative stability and growing prosperity not just in the West but in the world, especially when the Cold War was won.
One more point: if the United States and Europe do not provide some form of global leadership with a focus on democracy, human rights, allyship and mutual development – with all due caveats about us not being perfect – who else will step in? Power abhors a vacuum. Where we disengage, someone else will step in. We disengaged in Afghanistan, and the Taliban and China have taken over. France has for decades mismanaged its relationships in North Africa and the Sahara, and Russia is moving in. Our somewhat post-colonial relationships with nations in Africa and South America are being challenged by more direct colonial interests of China and Russia. Our disengagement in the Middle East – and our mishandling of Iraq, to put it mildly – has enabled Iran and its allies like the Huthis. In the Pacific, China is flexing more and more. These competitors are striving to control the very trade routes we are relying on.
Yes, the border crisis is real. Domestic problems are very real, because they affect real people. But we are allegedly the most powerful, most prosperous country in history. We should be able to solve our domestic problems and help our allies and those who want to be our allies. Nobody – nobody – in the world understands what is going on now in American democracy. Our reputation is seriously under threat. This means that the reputation of democracy itself is under threat.
We need to stop focusing on UAPs or UFOs as the new threat while ignoring the threat that is already there. The aliens are not attacking, but Russia is. Its allies in Iran and North Korea are making their moves as well. China is watching and waiting to take over.
We need to wake up. This is the moment now of decision, of sending a strong signal that American democracy is not weak, that the American Republic is still the indispensable nation, that the world benefits from following our leadership, flawed as it may be. The alternative would be a world that would not even be safe for America anymore. We are part of this world, whether we like it or not. We can do this, and we must.
Ceterum censeo Ucrainam esse defendam. Слава Україні!
Erratic Attempts 