Weakness breeds aggression, and like the tottering international system represented by the League of Nations after World War I, today’s world order, grounded on the Pax Americana and the maritime democracies, is under severe strain. Once again, predatory dictatorships are testing their reach, most notably in Eastern Europe, where Russia is attempting to destroy Ukraine, and in the Middle East, where Iran aims to wipe out Israel.

These regimes, while partners and allies in every way, have attempted to delude the more witless among their enemies in the West into seeing these conflicts as distinct. Blindness is costly, and Western nations cannot indulge these lies. The collapse of over 50 years of Assad family rule must be a signal to wake up to the full scope and nature of the assault on our world order.