Russia is now under an elevated state of nuclear readiness in response to unexpectedly strong Ukrainian resistance and an overwhelming global outcry against President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his sovereign neighbor. Putin no doubt thought this invasion would yield a quick ouster of Ukraine’s leadership so he could install a Moscow-friendly government. Instead, he is resorting to acts of desperation to mask his embarrassment.
The invasion itself was the work of a madman, so it’s anyone’s guess what Putin might do next to protect his self-cultivated image as a steely eyed strongman. Still, Putin probably isn’t crazy enough to deploy nuclear weapons, nor are his top generals so insane that they would accede to such a command. It’s far too early in this war for the West to be talking about a face-saving way out for Putin. He deserves to feel the full brunt of the economic disaster he brought on his country, and that necessarily entails extending and deepening the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its Western allies.
The longer those sanctions go on, the more Americans will feel pain in their pocketbooks. Removal of Russian petroleum exports will cause gasoline prices to go up, and inflation is likely to get worse before it gets better. Some conservative isolationists, including Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, have argued that this is not America’s fight and that Ukraine is not of enough strategic importance to warrant greater U.S. involvement. At last week’s America First Political Action Conference, whose participants included two of Hawley’s conservative House colleagues, attendees joined in a rousing cheer for Putin.
Like it or not, America is the leader of the free world and the most militarily powerful nation on Earth. There is no option for the United States to isolate itself while pretending that the expansionist aggression of its historic rival merits nothing more than shoulder-shrugging indifference here. It’s precisely because the United States has stayed engaged and has led the charge for unprecedented economic and financial sanctions on Russia that Putin is now being forced to weigh the heavy long-term consequences of his invasion.
Russia’s largest banks and richest oligarchs have lost access to international capital markets. Russian airlines have had to cancel thousands of flights as international airspace closes to them. Russian performers and sports stars find themselves shunned. Russian technology companies cannot purchase supplies from abroad. Even perennially neutral Switzerland is imposing restrictions on Russian banking.
American conservatives and liberals alike must recognize that this nation was built on a bedrock foundation of freedom, and Putin’s goal is to restore Russia’s Soviet-era grandeur by military force while using murder and imprisonment to silence all dissent. Those who cheer Putin are celebrating subjugation and oppression. With the threat of nuclear escalation looming, which is more likely to make Putin stand down: unified defiance under American leadership, or isolationist apathy and cowardice?
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