Russia’s cruel war of aggression upon Ukraine must finally awaken the West from its post-Cold War slumber. This is merciless Putin’s war, waged against an innocent sovereign nation, but there will always be aggressors, and it is up to democracies to stop them before they are so emboldened and powerful that they threaten freedom itself. As U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss put it in a recent speech, “For years now, Russia’s been building its capabilities, violating its commitments, and probing our weaknesses. … The free world must draw a line under a decade of drift.” While it is refreshing to hear a Western leader call out the West’s inertia, the sad reality is that the Russian threat is greater than Truss implies, and our “drift” in response to it should have ended long ago. So should our complacency toward the global march of authoritarianism spearheaded by the growing axis of Russia, China, and Iran.
The Russian threat grew while democracies weighed and meted out minimalist costs. Penalties for Russian wars in Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria; paramilitary and disinformation campaigns in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East; cyber operations to divide and destabilize the United States; assassinations, poisonings, imprisonment, and torture of those who dare to speak out; and violation of peace treaties, arms agreements, and international norms have been halting and incremental. Russia exacerbates and foments ethnic strife, corruption, and even antisemitism insofar as these variables help Russia increase its own power at the expense of the West. It uses menacing military exercises and energy blackmail for intimidation and control. Russia’s multipronged Europe strategy creates fear and dependency, and exploits chaos and division, in order to reap geopolitical rewards.
