I am in full agreement Dr. Snyder. We must act and act fast to give Ukraine all it needs to soundly defeat Russia. Part of the American angst I believe is Putin attacking Ukraine is no different in principle from Bush and company attacking Iraq. In both cases a sovereign nation was attacked by an aggressive larger, wealthier fort no better reason than greed. In my opinion, aiding Ukraine to our utmost ability helps dismiss some of the international shame of us attacking Iraq.
One difference is that Iraq was a brutal dictatorship. I'm not defending the Iraq War but maybe there is some sort of difference when a dictatorship invades a democracy. I do agree that instead of falling for whataboutism on this subject we can use this opportunity to redeem ourselves to some extent and show that the US can do good things.
I agree that Sadaam Hussein was a dictator, but he was THEIR dictator, we had no right to overthrow the Iraqi Government, allow their antiquities (more than 3500 years old) to be stolen or destroyed and their oil fields to be set on fire while our troops stood and watched unable to stop the looting.
We are not a dictatorship, at least not yet (and I hope never) But we were not behaving as a responsible Democracy should either. I was not excusing Putin, nor do I excuse Netanyahu and his gang of thugs. I was offering my opinion why some Americans may be wrongly reticent about the aid we give Ukraine. Ukrainians are the innocents here.
I agree with all of that. It is simply possible to make some distinctions between these situations, that's all. A foreign invasion, even if well intentioned (and ours in Iraq really wasn't even that) is very unlikely to make the citizens lives better in any way, regardless of the situation.
On this we are in full and absolute agreement. This was supposed to have been the role of the United Nations; to step in, arbitrate and neutralize a situation. But they made the mistake of adding the "Security Council" which nullified that role so now people like Putin, Netanyahu, and the Ayatollah Khomenei can dol whatever the hell they want with no interference.
I really admire Volodomir Zelensky and the Ukrainians for asking only for weapons and ammunitiion, thus risking only their own lives against that ogre Putin
I'll also say that our national regret over Iraq also likely kept us from better supporting the Syrian people, though that seems a complicated situation, especially compared with supporting a fully-functioning state in Ukraine against a foreign invader.
I still get emails from a friend (who is a Democrat!) about poor Putin and how hemmed in he is. This friend keeps mentioning Dr Strangelove and keeps saying that Ukrainians would be better off if they just let Russia take Ukraine. The naivety of this is astounding. I am not sure where this friend is getting his talking points, but I suspect it is from the Democratic Socialists of America, and sometimes The Nation magazine. I have noticed that socialists generally seem to still see Russia as a poor underdog socialist country that capitalist imperialists are always threatening. The Monthly Review also declines to condemn Putin's aggression, even though it condemns colonialism generally.
.The other weird thing about this friend is that even though I keep saying, "Let's just agree to disagree and talk about something else," he won't let it go and keeps sending me more links to articles that he says show that even Ukrainians agree with him. (The articles usually don't show this really. They say that Ukrainians are tired of war. Well, of course they are.)
Similar experience here. Acquaintances who came here from Taiwan fifty years ago had similar ideas of NATO’s fault, etc. I received emails about Jeffrey Sachs’s views. Putin had no choice, etc., it’s our fault, WWIII, etc. Things to be anxious about.
They get news from Taiwan sources (or sources claiming to be Taiwanese) that say the Uyghurs are not at all being treated badly by the Chinese. It’s just American propaganda, they say. Not knowing who to believe can make people very, very anxious.
In this essay Timothy Snyder has explained brilliantly what is going on. “Russians know that they are managing (our) anxiety. This is what they do, and they do it well. They do it with fervent determination, because they believe in it, and they know that it is their one chance to win.”
From time to time I come across this way of thinking on twitter and in comments sections on the Substacks I read. The problem, as I see it based on my experience, is that most Americans are not readers, so are not able to evaluate sources properly. Perhaps for this reason, they don't know how much there is to know. It does take a lot of effort to read about Ukraine and Russia. No one book will have all the answers, so you have to keep reading. I've read tens of thousands of pages on the subject and am still learning. Another thing is that E. European history is unusually difficult for Westerners to understand. It took me 2½ years before I could even begin to understand it. If you have a background of any kind, whether it's reading history or essays like this, you have a knowledge base from which you can draw to better evaluate sources. What I see in the Left--and when I say "Left" I don't mean most Democrats--is a lot of pseudo-intellectualism.
The experiences of Westerners on the Left, especially post WWI, have also been different from those who experienced arrest, torture, and murder in central (post-1945) and eastern Europe: They can sit at a comfortable distance, as did Sartre, and praise the Soviet Union, and now at a comfortable distance from a colonial war of aggression and, without going to the trouble of trying to understand it, congratulate themselves on their anti-American and -British imperialism without the self-awareness required to see the inconsistency of their position. I've known about the violent, interventionist policies of the US since I was in my 20s, and was strongly opposed to the US's war of aggression against Iraq, as are many of these people. But being consistent in this matter necessarily calls for opposition to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Agree. I pointed out to my pro-Putin friend that I participated in demonstrations against the war in Iraq. (As far as I know, he did not.) That was a clear case of one country (ours) invading and destroying another country for no good reason. The same thing is happening now to Ukrainians, so why would I NOT oppose that as well?
His point of view seems to be, "The US was wrong about Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, so it is wrong now about Ukraine." Makes no sense. I pointed out that like a lot of people, he seems to be always fighting the last war, ignoring the facts about the present one.
Weirdly, this guy is quite well-read about history. He has loaned me several of his books, including one about the Russian revolution. But he knows little about Ukraine, like a lot of Americans, most of whom can't even find it on a map.
I think what is messing up his thinking is that he likes to see himself as a lone dissenter on the Left, one habitually opposed to whatever the US is doing, whether the administration is Democrat or Republican: we are doing something bad, he just knows it. This is a point of pride with him. If the US government ever did anything good, he wouldn't know what to think.
But secretly, I think he is a kind of autocrat/bully/authoritarian of the Left. His wife definitely is. She got in a lot of trouble at her university for putting up flyers all around the campus accusing a fellow professor of racism. The flyers had his picture on it, and the words "You are on our list." This other professor is indeed a very conservative person who had taken a stand on a local issue that she didn't like, but she retaliated in the most bullying way imaginable. And a lot of local Lefties loved it! For a long time I was the only one of my friends who said that this action was not only morally wrong but counter-productive for Democrats, as it made us look very bad. The university sort of censured her, but they were afraid to fire her for fear of making it a bigger story than it was already.
It won't surprise you that this same friend is unequivocally on the side of Hamas and sees Israel as evil. When I said I thought it was more complicated than that, he said I was "complicit with horrors" because I didn't "speak out." I said I didn't understand the issue well enough or have enough background to take sides, and that nobody was waiting to hear what I thought about it. I think he found this incomprehensible: you are supposed to take sides whether you understand anything or not!
There's an election in six weeks. Harris is likely on track to win it. Biden will do nothing that might disrupt that if he can help it. After the election,,win or lose,is when we can expect decisions.
There are two distinguishable ways to win a war, in practice usually combined. One is operationally, by sucessful military operations, "on the battlefield", and the other is attritionally, by subjecting your enemy to stress he cannot sustain.
Russians no doubt remember that's how they lost WW1. Unless Trump is elected, that's how they're likely to lose this one, and they're aware of that. According to Julia Davis, the weeping and wailing on Ru TV after "our Donald's" performance in the debate was something to see.
One of Russia's chief psyops is convincing the world they can keep this up indefinitely. They can't.
The election is thus likely to change the situation profoundly. We will just have to wait. The most important thing to do for Ukraine right now is to elect Harris.
In fact, Biden CAN do something, and in doing so he can make it clear that the decision was his and his alone, that as President he is under no obligation to obtain the concurrence of the VP.
Americans might remember that without the military and financial help from France, we probably would not have won the Revolutionary War. I grant that France’s motivation was at least as much about weakening England as it was about helping us (the King of France was hardly a democrat at heart) but our combined victory at Yorktown and the French victory at the Battle of the Capes which prevented British resupply of their outpost at Yorktown made final British capitulation possible, thus helping to birth this first nation on earth to define itself at its inception as a republic. And we have thus and since been ‘the last best hope of earth’. I’m not proposing that we send our military to fight in the Ukraine, but we must continue to help them in all other possible ways. We cannot guarantee victory, but we can and should help to make that victory possible.
Here’s another quote from Shakespeare from “The Tempest” that fits the Ukrainian situation in relation to Russia right now: “Hell is empty and all the devils are here”.
Bravo for a superb and powerful exposition of the case for continued, and even more forceful, American leadership on behalf of the free world and freedom itself. The elegance of your prose and the underlying logic justifies comparison with the bard himself. Unfortunately, I fear that the brutal political calculation is that 'assuring' the next Presidency for the Democrats is the highest of Biden's priorities. I would be more comfortable if the Europeans took front-stage during this six-week hiatus and showed recognition of the need for them to rise to the occasion.
Again, regrettably we have to fall back on Winston Churchill's opinion that the USA will always do the right thing .... but only after trying all the alternatives. Hopefully that will become evident in mid-November. Ukraine, please hold on, the cavalry must surely be coming.
I believe that if Biden confidently and wholeheartedly supported Ukraine NOW — went all the way so to speak, it would strengthen Kamala’s chances of victory, not lessen them.
I doubt that the issue would be a sure winner for her. So, as opined above, no significant movement until after Election day, IMO. Maybe the use of longer range weapons into Russia, but.....maybe not even that.
Thank you Dr. Snyder for clearly though diplomatically shaming our leaders (especially President Biden and Chancellor Scholz) for their, shall we say, timidity in the face of a brutal tyrant's acts of wanton aggression.
I don't know who Joe is listening to, but it is certainly not someone with the acumen of a John Boyd or a Heinz Guderian. The tendency toward tunnel vision is nowhere better illustrated than by the defeatist strategy that we not only withhold air defense systems in sufficient quantity to protect the Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure but also deny Ukraine permission (as well as weaponry) to strike the aggressor's military airfields and infrastructure.
The Ukrainian leadership, both civilian and military, has proven itself many times over to be more competent than our own. Why do we not give them what they need, and let them decide how too use it?
I fear that foreign policy decisions by the Biden administration are now, more than ever, being shaped by a view not to do anything that is perceived as jeopardizing the chances to defeat Trump in November. I would be shocked if Biden stops dragging his feet when it comes to aiding Ukraine. The delays sending military assistance over the past two plus years have been alarming. I'll postpone my thoughts on the crisis in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank for another time.
I wonder as well, sometimes with fear. Pull up your anchor, Joe! It's dragging! Positive aid and support to defeat a bully like Putin. Firm demands to our ally in the Middle East who insists on moving the finish line while expecting arms for bombing innocents. There, I said it!
This is a coherent comprehensive telling of where we are now and what Biden as leader must do. It would take boldness. Biden has been fearful and sitting on the fence. While we have to praise him, this has prolonged the war and the suffering and death. “To be or not to be” is a perfect way of putting it. This essay puts it on the line, lays it out. We are in a late hour. Thank you Professor Snyder.
"This has been a war of two timescales and two realities. It is laudable and impressive that President Biden visited Kyiv in wartime, and senior American officials visit regularly. Yet this war has been different than wars of the past in that far too few personal relationships have been developed. There are too few Americans with meaningful experience in Ukraine during this war. While the Ukrainians have fought the largest land war in Europe since 1945, holding back a Russian army believed in Washington in 2022 to be unstoppable, too few Americans have been physically present to observe how this was done (and to learn). Whereas Ukrainians have been bombed, tortured, and executed in horrifying numbers by Russians, the American conversation is too often about professional reputations and hurt feelings inside the DC Beltway."
If we understood history better, we would have known that Ukraine would and could fight and win. It's been proven over and over. We either take the side of Ukraine or of evil.
This assessment is remarkably clear, providing unbiased historical fact and a distinctively human interpretation of the needs for successful durable self-defense against ruthless State aggression and occupation.
That Trump and his supporters, including so many Republicans in and out of government, prefer the bend toward Russia is dangerous to all, Ukrainians, Americans, ...everyone across the globe and into the future.
The opportunity for democratic (in a global context read popular, peoples-chosen) reasoned and cooperatively conceived and maintained set of agreements to successfully oppose the violence and social chaos of the Russian and Trump aspirations is an opportunity that both the successful Ukraine-allies self-defense efforts along with the constituting and enactment of the Ten Points Peace Formula can establish.
I will continue, as an American, to urge that the US government respond promptly and fully to the Ukrainian's requests for both military assistance and humanitarian/social infrastructure repair and improvement assistance. I will urge the US government to cooperate fully as a participant in the collective effort to produce an assertive Ten Points Peace Formula that both equally binds and allies all nations, of any size and of any capacity, to formal cooperative continuing efforts to maintain peace and security and political self-determination of all communities of people.
Americans and allies of the Ukrainians from many nations of the world have the resources and have basic common or shared human interests in establishing agreements and actual cooperative programs to effect both and which will, politically and support of a super-majority of the world's peoples participation. This is active flexing of political will and human optimism by most people and reflects a better-informed, usefully informed activism and optimism.
I do not fear Russian threats. My priority is that my children and grandchildren live free. We must free Ukraine to act.
I am in full agreement Dr. Snyder. We must act and act fast to give Ukraine all it needs to soundly defeat Russia. Part of the American angst I believe is Putin attacking Ukraine is no different in principle from Bush and company attacking Iraq. In both cases a sovereign nation was attacked by an aggressive larger, wealthier fort no better reason than greed. In my opinion, aiding Ukraine to our utmost ability helps dismiss some of the international shame of us attacking Iraq.
One difference is that Iraq was a brutal dictatorship. I'm not defending the Iraq War but maybe there is some sort of difference when a dictatorship invades a democracy. I do agree that instead of falling for whataboutism on this subject we can use this opportunity to redeem ourselves to some extent and show that the US can do good things.
I agree that Sadaam Hussein was a dictator, but he was THEIR dictator, we had no right to overthrow the Iraqi Government, allow their antiquities (more than 3500 years old) to be stolen or destroyed and their oil fields to be set on fire while our troops stood and watched unable to stop the looting.
We are not a dictatorship, at least not yet (and I hope never) But we were not behaving as a responsible Democracy should either. I was not excusing Putin, nor do I excuse Netanyahu and his gang of thugs. I was offering my opinion why some Americans may be wrongly reticent about the aid we give Ukraine. Ukrainians are the innocents here.
I agree with all of that. It is simply possible to make some distinctions between these situations, that's all. A foreign invasion, even if well intentioned (and ours in Iraq really wasn't even that) is very unlikely to make the citizens lives better in any way, regardless of the situation.
On this we are in full and absolute agreement. This was supposed to have been the role of the United Nations; to step in, arbitrate and neutralize a situation. But they made the mistake of adding the "Security Council" which nullified that role so now people like Putin, Netanyahu, and the Ayatollah Khomenei can dol whatever the hell they want with no interference.
I really admire Volodomir Zelensky and the Ukrainians for asking only for weapons and ammunitiion, thus risking only their own lives against that ogre Putin
I'll also say that our national regret over Iraq also likely kept us from better supporting the Syrian people, though that seems a complicated situation, especially compared with supporting a fully-functioning state in Ukraine against a foreign invader.
I still get emails from a friend (who is a Democrat!) about poor Putin and how hemmed in he is. This friend keeps mentioning Dr Strangelove and keeps saying that Ukrainians would be better off if they just let Russia take Ukraine. The naivety of this is astounding. I am not sure where this friend is getting his talking points, but I suspect it is from the Democratic Socialists of America, and sometimes The Nation magazine. I have noticed that socialists generally seem to still see Russia as a poor underdog socialist country that capitalist imperialists are always threatening. The Monthly Review also declines to condemn Putin's aggression, even though it condemns colonialism generally.
.The other weird thing about this friend is that even though I keep saying, "Let's just agree to disagree and talk about something else," he won't let it go and keeps sending me more links to articles that he says show that even Ukrainians agree with him. (The articles usually don't show this really. They say that Ukrainians are tired of war. Well, of course they are.)
Sometimes I am ashamed of my fellow Democrats.
Similar experience here. Acquaintances who came here from Taiwan fifty years ago had similar ideas of NATO’s fault, etc. I received emails about Jeffrey Sachs’s views. Putin had no choice, etc., it’s our fault, WWIII, etc. Things to be anxious about.
They get news from Taiwan sources (or sources claiming to be Taiwanese) that say the Uyghurs are not at all being treated badly by the Chinese. It’s just American propaganda, they say. Not knowing who to believe can make people very, very anxious.
In this essay Timothy Snyder has explained brilliantly what is going on. “Russians know that they are managing (our) anxiety. This is what they do, and they do it well. They do it with fervent determination, because they believe in it, and they know that it is their one chance to win.”
From time to time I come across this way of thinking on twitter and in comments sections on the Substacks I read. The problem, as I see it based on my experience, is that most Americans are not readers, so are not able to evaluate sources properly. Perhaps for this reason, they don't know how much there is to know. It does take a lot of effort to read about Ukraine and Russia. No one book will have all the answers, so you have to keep reading. I've read tens of thousands of pages on the subject and am still learning. Another thing is that E. European history is unusually difficult for Westerners to understand. It took me 2½ years before I could even begin to understand it. If you have a background of any kind, whether it's reading history or essays like this, you have a knowledge base from which you can draw to better evaluate sources. What I see in the Left--and when I say "Left" I don't mean most Democrats--is a lot of pseudo-intellectualism.
The experiences of Westerners on the Left, especially post WWI, have also been different from those who experienced arrest, torture, and murder in central (post-1945) and eastern Europe: They can sit at a comfortable distance, as did Sartre, and praise the Soviet Union, and now at a comfortable distance from a colonial war of aggression and, without going to the trouble of trying to understand it, congratulate themselves on their anti-American and -British imperialism without the self-awareness required to see the inconsistency of their position. I've known about the violent, interventionist policies of the US since I was in my 20s, and was strongly opposed to the US's war of aggression against Iraq, as are many of these people. But being consistent in this matter necessarily calls for opposition to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Agree. I pointed out to my pro-Putin friend that I participated in demonstrations against the war in Iraq. (As far as I know, he did not.) That was a clear case of one country (ours) invading and destroying another country for no good reason. The same thing is happening now to Ukrainians, so why would I NOT oppose that as well?
His point of view seems to be, "The US was wrong about Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, so it is wrong now about Ukraine." Makes no sense. I pointed out that like a lot of people, he seems to be always fighting the last war, ignoring the facts about the present one.
Weirdly, this guy is quite well-read about history. He has loaned me several of his books, including one about the Russian revolution. But he knows little about Ukraine, like a lot of Americans, most of whom can't even find it on a map.
I think what is messing up his thinking is that he likes to see himself as a lone dissenter on the Left, one habitually opposed to whatever the US is doing, whether the administration is Democrat or Republican: we are doing something bad, he just knows it. This is a point of pride with him. If the US government ever did anything good, he wouldn't know what to think.
But secretly, I think he is a kind of autocrat/bully/authoritarian of the Left. His wife definitely is. She got in a lot of trouble at her university for putting up flyers all around the campus accusing a fellow professor of racism. The flyers had his picture on it, and the words "You are on our list." This other professor is indeed a very conservative person who had taken a stand on a local issue that she didn't like, but she retaliated in the most bullying way imaginable. And a lot of local Lefties loved it! For a long time I was the only one of my friends who said that this action was not only morally wrong but counter-productive for Democrats, as it made us look very bad. The university sort of censured her, but they were afraid to fire her for fear of making it a bigger story than it was already.
It won't surprise you that this same friend is unequivocally on the side of Hamas and sees Israel as evil. When I said I thought it was more complicated than that, he said I was "complicit with horrors" because I didn't "speak out." I said I didn't understand the issue well enough or have enough background to take sides, and that nobody was waiting to hear what I thought about it. I think he found this incomprehensible: you are supposed to take sides whether you understand anything or not!
The word is “Tankie”.
Maybe they are Russian sleepers. They often seem off.
Let’s hope the history books don’t show that help from America was too little and too late.
There's an election in six weeks. Harris is likely on track to win it. Biden will do nothing that might disrupt that if he can help it. After the election,,win or lose,is when we can expect decisions.
There are two distinguishable ways to win a war, in practice usually combined. One is operationally, by sucessful military operations, "on the battlefield", and the other is attritionally, by subjecting your enemy to stress he cannot sustain.
Russians no doubt remember that's how they lost WW1. Unless Trump is elected, that's how they're likely to lose this one, and they're aware of that. According to Julia Davis, the weeping and wailing on Ru TV after "our Donald's" performance in the debate was something to see.
One of Russia's chief psyops is convincing the world they can keep this up indefinitely. They can't.
The election is thus likely to change the situation profoundly. We will just have to wait. The most important thing to do for Ukraine right now is to elect Harris.
In fact, Biden CAN do something, and in doing so he can make it clear that the decision was his and his alone, that as President he is under no obligation to obtain the concurrence of the VP.
While "we" are waiting, Ukrainians are dying.
excellent response.
Americans might remember that without the military and financial help from France, we probably would not have won the Revolutionary War. I grant that France’s motivation was at least as much about weakening England as it was about helping us (the King of France was hardly a democrat at heart) but our combined victory at Yorktown and the French victory at the Battle of the Capes which prevented British resupply of their outpost at Yorktown made final British capitulation possible, thus helping to birth this first nation on earth to define itself at its inception as a republic. And we have thus and since been ‘the last best hope of earth’. I’m not proposing that we send our military to fight in the Ukraine, but we must continue to help them in all other possible ways. We cannot guarantee victory, but we can and should help to make that victory possible.
Here’s another quote from Shakespeare from “The Tempest” that fits the Ukrainian situation in relation to Russia right now: “Hell is empty and all the devils are here”.
Mr Snyder,
Bravo for a superb and powerful exposition of the case for continued, and even more forceful, American leadership on behalf of the free world and freedom itself. The elegance of your prose and the underlying logic justifies comparison with the bard himself. Unfortunately, I fear that the brutal political calculation is that 'assuring' the next Presidency for the Democrats is the highest of Biden's priorities. I would be more comfortable if the Europeans took front-stage during this six-week hiatus and showed recognition of the need for them to rise to the occasion.
Again, regrettably we have to fall back on Winston Churchill's opinion that the USA will always do the right thing .... but only after trying all the alternatives. Hopefully that will become evident in mid-November. Ukraine, please hold on, the cavalry must surely be coming.
I believe that if Biden confidently and wholeheartedly supported Ukraine NOW — went all the way so to speak, it would strengthen Kamala’s chances of victory, not lessen them.
I doubt that the issue would be a sure winner for her. So, as opined above, no significant movement until after Election day, IMO. Maybe the use of longer range weapons into Russia, but.....maybe not even that.
Thank you Dr. Snyder for clearly though diplomatically shaming our leaders (especially President Biden and Chancellor Scholz) for their, shall we say, timidity in the face of a brutal tyrant's acts of wanton aggression.
I don't know who Joe is listening to, but it is certainly not someone with the acumen of a John Boyd or a Heinz Guderian. The tendency toward tunnel vision is nowhere better illustrated than by the defeatist strategy that we not only withhold air defense systems in sufficient quantity to protect the Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure but also deny Ukraine permission (as well as weaponry) to strike the aggressor's military airfields and infrastructure.
The Ukrainian leadership, both civilian and military, has proven itself many times over to be more competent than our own. Why do we not give them what they need, and let them decide how too use it?
The whole world wonders.
I fear that foreign policy decisions by the Biden administration are now, more than ever, being shaped by a view not to do anything that is perceived as jeopardizing the chances to defeat Trump in November. I would be shocked if Biden stops dragging his feet when it comes to aiding Ukraine. The delays sending military assistance over the past two plus years have been alarming. I'll postpone my thoughts on the crisis in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank for another time.
I wonder as well, sometimes with fear. Pull up your anchor, Joe! It's dragging! Positive aid and support to defeat a bully like Putin. Firm demands to our ally in the Middle East who insists on moving the finish line while expecting arms for bombing innocents. There, I said it!
This is a coherent comprehensive telling of where we are now and what Biden as leader must do. It would take boldness. Biden has been fearful and sitting on the fence. While we have to praise him, this has prolonged the war and the suffering and death. “To be or not to be” is a perfect way of putting it. This essay puts it on the line, lays it out. We are in a late hour. Thank you Professor Snyder.
"This has been a war of two timescales and two realities. It is laudable and impressive that President Biden visited Kyiv in wartime, and senior American officials visit regularly. Yet this war has been different than wars of the past in that far too few personal relationships have been developed. There are too few Americans with meaningful experience in Ukraine during this war. While the Ukrainians have fought the largest land war in Europe since 1945, holding back a Russian army believed in Washington in 2022 to be unstoppable, too few Americans have been physically present to observe how this was done (and to learn). Whereas Ukrainians have been bombed, tortured, and executed in horrifying numbers by Russians, the American conversation is too often about professional reputations and hurt feelings inside the DC Beltway."
If we understood history better, we would have known that Ukraine would and could fight and win. It's been proven over and over. We either take the side of Ukraine or of evil.
💙СЛАВА🌻УКРАЇНІ!🇺🇦
💛ГЕРОЯМ🌻СЛАВА!🇺🇦
"the American conversation is too often about professional reputations and hurt feelings inside the DC Beltway." This is how we lose everything.
Thank you, Prof Snyder, for this assessment.
This assessment is remarkably clear, providing unbiased historical fact and a distinctively human interpretation of the needs for successful durable self-defense against ruthless State aggression and occupation.
That Trump and his supporters, including so many Republicans in and out of government, prefer the bend toward Russia is dangerous to all, Ukrainians, Americans, ...everyone across the globe and into the future.
The opportunity for democratic (in a global context read popular, peoples-chosen) reasoned and cooperatively conceived and maintained set of agreements to successfully oppose the violence and social chaos of the Russian and Trump aspirations is an opportunity that both the successful Ukraine-allies self-defense efforts along with the constituting and enactment of the Ten Points Peace Formula can establish.
I will continue, as an American, to urge that the US government respond promptly and fully to the Ukrainian's requests for both military assistance and humanitarian/social infrastructure repair and improvement assistance. I will urge the US government to cooperate fully as a participant in the collective effort to produce an assertive Ten Points Peace Formula that both equally binds and allies all nations, of any size and of any capacity, to formal cooperative continuing efforts to maintain peace and security and political self-determination of all communities of people.
Americans and allies of the Ukrainians from many nations of the world have the resources and have basic common or shared human interests in establishing agreements and actual cooperative programs to effect both and which will, politically and support of a super-majority of the world's peoples participation. This is active flexing of political will and human optimism by most people and reflects a better-informed, usefully informed activism and optimism.
Brilliantly stated. From your lips to Biden's (and Sullivan's) ears.
Thank you. America must do what has yo be done and fully support Ukraine.