The Russian Invasion of Ukraine is Not Our Fight
The Russian Invasion of Ukraine is Not Our Fight
There's no justification for what's happening in Ukraine, but that doesn't mean we have to go to war with Russia.
At the beginning of this week, the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine escalated as Russian President Vladimir Putin formally recognized the Luhansk and Donetsk regions as independent, which have been contested parts of eastern Ukraine for the past several years. The regions have been controlled by pro-Russian separatists who have fought with Ukrainian forces on and off since they declared independence, and Putin used a recent uptick in violence in the region as an excuse to send in Russian troops on a “peacekeeping” mission. Very shortly after, there were reports of shelling of Ukrainian military infrastructure all over the country, including near Kyiv, and Russian ground forces made their way into the country. Russia has officially invaded Ukraine.
In response to these very serious developments, the U.S. and other NATO allies have placed sanctions on Russia and have called on Putin to put an end to the invasion. Recently, President Biden has announced the decision to place sanctions on Putin specifically, as well as several members of Russia’s Security Council, a move that has also been taken by the E.U. and the U.K. Notably, German Chancellor Olaf Sholz has canceled the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was expected to double the amount of natural gas that Germany receives from Russia, out of retaliation against Putin’s recent actions.
The conflict is likely to increase in the coming days, and reports of civilian and military casualties are already beginning to come out, with the death toll continuing to rise as the war ensues. The Ukrainian government has offered weapons to civilians who are willing to defend their country, and there have been reports of Ukrainian forces refusing to surrender to the Russian invasion, many paying the ultimate price as a result of that decision. The seriousness of this situation can not be overstated, and we can only hope that the Russian government decides to change course. However, that seems unlikely and in any case, a lot of damage has already been done.
Personally, I support Ukraine’s independence, and it pains me to see these events unfold in the way that they are. However, the current situation is not one that the U.S. should get involved in militarily. We have no military alliance with Ukraine and no obligation to go to war with Russia on their behalf. To be frank, this is not our fight. Many Americans likely feel sympathy for Ukraine and desire to help, but recent polling shows that the majority of U.S. citizens don’t believe that we should play a major role in this conflict, which is a position I strongly agree with.
The situation is unfortunate, but the U.S. engaging Russia militarily will only further escalate things and could potentially lead to a nuclear war. It should go without saying that the ramifications of such an event would affect more than just Eastern Europe, and would lead to much more death and destruction. Aside from sanctions — which are likely to harm the civilians of Russia long before they affect any Russian leaders — there’s just not much else the U.S. and NATO can do without risking further escalation, and President Biden has maintained that U.S. troops will not fight in Ukraine even as many are sent to Europe to defend our NATO allies. At this point, the best thing we can do for Ukrainians is to accept any refugees that make their way to our country, and do what we can to urge Putin to cease the invasion and return to diplomacy.
We could’ve made better attempts to avoid this conflict before it began, however. The U.S. and other NATO allies should’ve done more to assure Russia that Ukraine would not join NATO, especially after tensions began rising several months ago. Since the George H.W. Bush administration promised to not expand NATO further east than Germany in 1990, many former Soviet countries have been absorbed into the alliance, and the idea of Ukraine being the next country to do so has likely provoked Russia to this point. That in no way justifies Putin’s actions, as there is no justification for such heinousness, but it at least helps to explain them. The idea that NATO expansion would lead to a situation like what we’re currently seeing was something many people predicted long before the recent escalation. Assuring that Ukraine wouldn’t join NATO in an attempt to avoid the current crisis would’ve been a small price to pay, especially considering how unlikely that possibility was to begin with. Unfortunately, Ukraine has been caught in the middle of a broader conflict and is feeling the brunt of the impact.
The U.S. government has been involved in Ukraine for years, even going as far as to back a coup that overthrew Ukraine’s pro-Russian government in 2014, and we have supplied Ukraine with weapons and military aid for years, especially over the last few months. Biden himself also has ties with Ukraine, with his son formerly being on the board of one of Ukraine’s largest energy companies. Basically, the U.S. has quite a level of influence over Ukraine, and that coupled with talks of the country becoming a part of NATO likely helped to stoke the tensions that are boiling over today. When discussing this situation, it’s irresponsible to ignore the role the U.S. government has played leading up to it.
One common talking point by those who propose going to war with Russia is that we need to “defend democracy” in Ukraine. Aside from the obvious hypocrisy of the U.S. espousing an admiration for democracy after previously helping to overthrow Ukraine’s democratically elected government, the idea that the current Ukrainian government is a pillar of democracy is not as true as some might assume. According to several different metrics, Ukraine isn’t as democratic as it’s often made out to be. That doesn’t mean the country deserves to be invaded by a foreign government, but that particular argument for the U.S. to get involved is not as strong as some try to suggest.
One of the biggest threats to freedom and democracy, however, are emergencies (with the last two years of Covid-19 mitigation policies being a great example, especially the recent events that have transpired in Canada in response to the Freedom Convoy protest) and war is almost always used to usurp civil liberties. There are many examples throughout history we can point to — like the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II — but we needn’t look any further than Ukraine being put under martial law almost immediately after the invasion. While it may make sense to implement such a measure under the current circumstances, oftentimes policies enacted during wartime continue long after the threat has passed. This is yet another reason for the U.S. to avoid getting involved in this conflict, as civil liberties would be another potential casualty along with any U.S. troops or civilians that would be lost from engaging Russia militarily.
The danger to innocent civilians isn’t contained to just one country, however. War is deadly, and this conflict spreading beyond Russia and Ukraine would threaten civilian life all over the world, including in Russia. While it may be hard to view Russian civilians sympathetically at the moment, it’s important to remember that the invasion of Ukraine was not their idea, and many even oppose it. Recently, over 1,000 people have been arrested in cities across Russia for protesting against their government’s decision to invade Ukraine, which emphasizes how the average person of any country usually does not want war, regardless of what their government desires.
War is always horrible, and those who are impacted the most are the average citizens of whatever country is unfortunate enough to be subjected to it. The only people war benefits are politicians, arms manufacturers, military contractors, and oligarchs who never bear the costs but always reap the benefits of profits and power. This is why the push for war usually comes from the top-down, and one of many reasons why we should always oppose it. The only time it’s acceptable is in self-defense, which is the position where Ukrainians find themselves today.
My heart truly goes out to all those affected by this war who wanted no part in it but have no real choice. However, I will maintain my stance until the U.S. is attacked directly. This is not our fight, and the U.S. should not get involved. I sincerely hope this conflict gets resolved with as little bloodshed as possible, and my heart hurts for those who have already been lost. We should stand with Ukraine, but we can’t fight this war.
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