If Kiev Crumbles, the World Order Will Rapidly Follow

Republican Ideologues Seek a Lifeline for a Weakened Putin

We stand at an historical inflection point, no less precarious as 1938, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeased Nazi Germany and declared that the Munich Agreement would bring “Peace for our time.” It didn’t quite work out that way.

In today’s deadly drama, Vladimir Putin is the determined dictator, voraciously gobbling up territory to assuage his perverse fantasy of becoming Peter The Great 2.0. Within Russia, the ruthless autocrat has severely restricted civil rights, launched an anti-LGBTQ crusade, released rapists and murderers from prison to fight his vanity war and sends his hapless soldiers into a meat grinder of attrition.

Rarely will you find a more conspicuous villain than Putin and halting his devastating march into Europe has the benefit of moral clarity, as well as geopolitical necessity. Yet, MAGA Republicans are arguing against providing additional funding for Ukraine to thwart Putin’s atavistic ambitions. Such catastrophic negligence is unsurprising given that MAGA Republicans don’t support democracy at home, so why would we expect them to embrace it abroad?

It’s no coincidence that the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for Donald Trump’s Big Lie election conspiracies are the most likely to oppose funding for Ukraine. These delusional ideologues worship Putin’s “strongman” ruling-style and admire him as an unapologetic defender of “traditional values” and white supremacy.

American evangelicals have durable partnerships with Russian “pro-family” groups. They admire each other as implacable crusaders against western values and bulwarks against basic human rights, LGBTQ equality, abortion access, asylum for immigrants and women’s empowerment.

Such partnerships date to the fall of the Berlin Wall when American Evangelicals swept into Russia to gain a foothold. A 1992 story in USA Today reported, “Never mind the Big Macs. The former Soviet republics are now opening their public-school doors to teaching about Christianity.”

Leading Religious Right figures, many of whom are more recently tied to Donald Trump, shipped millions of Bibles to Russia, in hopes of nudging their culture in a conservative direction. Prominent U.S. culture war organizations, such as the World Congress of Families, have deep ties with Russia’s leaders.

More troubling, Newsweek reported, “A group of Russian nationals were able to donate to newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson's campaign in 2018 by funneling the money through a U.S. company.”

Why would the Russians be interested in Johnson unless he was ideologically aligned and supported Putin’s agenda? We can’t overlook the reality that much of the GOP is on Team Putin and against Team America. What we call fascism, they perversely celebrate as “freedom.”

If our unserious Republican Congress fails to approve President Joe Biden’s proposed $61.4 billion aid package for Ukraine, they risk saving Putin from a humiliating military defeat. This outcome would be a strategic calamity on par with Chamberlain’s failure to stand up to Hitler.

I’ll go on record that if our flakiness enables Russia to defeat Ukraine, and you see a major victory parade in Moscow, within a few years you will see Xi Jinping holding a parade in Beijing to celebrate China’s annexation of Taiwan.

Xi is assertively preparing his military for war against the United States. He studiously observes our actions in Ukraine to determine if his forces will go on the offensive. The only factor that would give Xi pause is a robust, unwavering and effective NATO response against Russian aggression.

If NATO can’t muster the patience and wherewithal to defend Europe against a severely weakened Russia, Xi will rightfully conclude that The West lacks the heart to honor its security guarantees and commitments against a powerful China. Our political frivolity will be seen as weakness and a green light for invasion – one that will cost America and its allies hundreds of billions of dollars and potentially millions of lives.

That’s not to mention the long-term economic cataclysm of surrendering sea lanes and trade routes in Asia to the Chinese navy. An estimated $3.37 trillion worth, or 21% of all global trade, transited through the South China Sea in 2016, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. If the United States is forcefully expelled from the region and our allies are forced to kneel and kiss China’s dictatorial boot, the impact on America’s economy would be devastating.

Biden’s $61.4 billion aid proposal for Ukraine is a rounding error compared to the fortune the United States will lose if it surrenders its remaining moral authority and military leadership on the global stage by caving to a wounded Putin.

Tragically, it seems the number one goal for most Republicans is to wrap up Congressional business so they can return home early for Christmas break. If Ukrainians—who are the frontline defending freedom in Europe—freeze to death so members of Congress can merrily drink eggnog by the fireplace then so be it. These are small-minded, ethically bereft jesters who are shrinking from the occasion. 

The most ridiculous argument they proffer against funding Ukraine is that it has become an unwinnable stalemate. How easily they forget that when the Russian bear invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, most analysts believed Ukraine would cease to exist within a matter of weeks. A Ukrainian “stalemate” with Russia isn’t a failure, but a daily miracle that is bleeding dry one of America’s most implacable and determined foes.

A newly declassified U.S. intelligence assessment shared with Congress concluded the war in Ukraine “has sharply set back 15 years of Russian effort to modernize its ground force.”  It claimed, “the war in Ukraine has devastated Russia’s preinvasion military machine, with nearly 90% of its prewar army lost to death or injury, and thousands of battle tanks destroyed.” Only in the bizarre world of Republican “alternative facts” would such remarkable military success be downgraded as failure and considered unworthy of additional financial support.

Russia is a tyrannical mafia state that interfered in our elections, menaces our economy with cyber-attacks, promotes authoritarianism and right-wing movements globally and has threatened The West with nuclear annihilation. Every single day that Russian tanks are obliterated, key generals are eliminated, and fighting-aged soldiers are dying in the mud, is a major victory for America.

Ukraine is doing our dirty work by halting the aspirations of a delusional madman. If we hand victory to Putin, all bets are off on whether he’d invade Estonia, claiming that this NATO country is a “suburb of Saint Petersburg.” (No doubt a fair number of weak Republicans would appease him)

It is beyond obscene that a brave hero and democracy defender like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had to visit Washington this week, hat in hand, to panhandle for his nation’s survival. It’s painful to watch Zelensky, the one leader who courageously stared down Putin, endure smug lectures by supine cowards, like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who shamefully scurried away from the January 6 mob he helped incite.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch’s editorial board slammed Hawley with a piece headlined, “Republicans risk national security with their isolationism on Ukraine.”:

It’s a measure of how isolationist, how partisan and how deeply unserious today’s congressional Republicans have become that they are willing to risk the erosion of democracy in Europe for the sake of an election-year bumper sticker.

Thus have we been treated to spectacles like the ever-irresponsible Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., exclaiming in frustration, “Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine,” during an interview on (where else?) Fox News. “I, for one,” said Hawley, “am not going to vote for a dime more for Ukraine until the United States’ security, our border security, is made whole and made right.”

Biden did, in fact, include increased funding for border security. But the cruel, heartless, xenophobic Republican Party is demanding that we make life more miserable for desperate asylum seekers. They forget that America is an immigrant nation and newcomers, with fresh ideas and boundless energy, contribute mightily to our economy.

Nevertheless, the GOP is holding more cards in this game of global chicken. Biden’s best move might be to give the Republican Party much of what it wants on immigration reform. By doing so, Biden will incur the benefit of eliminating Trump’s premier campaign issue, helping to secure reelection and saving America from a political apocalypse.

My heart goes out to the Venezuelans and other immigrants stranded at the border or unceremoniously deported. However, the U.S. can’t help immigrants in the future if Trump prevails, destabilizing our nation, and turning America into the next Venezuela. If people want to help immigrants, they must reelect Biden and then vote more Democrats into office, who can devise comprehensive immigration reform, free from Republican isolationism, bigotry and xenophobia.  

Yes, in the short-term, we might be turning our backs on our cherished values. However, politics is about tough choices and compromises. A victorious Trump handing Putin Ukraine on a silver platter, to menace Europe on its doorstep, is a far worse outcome than temporarily compromising on immigration. Funding for Ukraine must be our top priority.

Aside from climate change, Ukraine is the most important issue of our day. If America fails to keep Ukraine free and democratic, the consequences will be swift and unforgiving. NATO would likely become irrelevant, predator nations would feel unrestrained to invade neighbors, no nation would ever again trust America’s security guarantees. This would rapidly lead to Chinese hegemony in Asia, with the United States suffering, if not collapsing, economically.

An empowered Russia would also continue funding right wing populist movements throughout Europe, eroding democracies and basic human rights. The likelihood for World War III would significantly increase, as despotic regimes across the globe would brazenly challenge America’s remaining shards of military power.

If the Ukrainian domino falls, the world would quickly unravel. It’s insanity that Republicans are toying with tossing a lifeline to an enfeebled Putin and his paper tiger army. If Kiev crumbles, the world order, and civilization itself, will follow.

Is this really the barbaric and cruel world of “might makes right” we want to live in and pass down to future generations? We must fully fund Ukraine now and provide the military hardware it needs to pound Putin into submission.      

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