The debate over U.S. policy toward Ukraine is menaced by a “war or ignore” binary. Unless corrected, it risks not only hampering the West’s response to Russian aggression but also hardening into an inward-looking, disengaged posture in future crises.

The increasingly common opinion holds that any hostility toward Vladimir Putin is a warlike action, and that any preparation for conflict chooses guns over butter, that is, comes at the cost of the needs of everyday Americans. At the center of these concerns is the idea that U.S. interests are in conflict with the interests of our allies.