Sometimes it takes a crisis to reveal the reality of a situation. The COVID pandemic revealed the sorry state of public health infrastructure in the U.S., along with many other uncomfortable truths. Now, the war in Ukraine is stripping bare the fundamental flaws of the political organization of the world.
A debate has emerged between various factions of political progressives about the causes of Russia's attack on Ukraine. Some see the war as resulting primarily from NATO expansion to Russia's western borders, along with the expansion of U.S. military and financial aid to Ukraine, which has made Russia feel threatened. How would the U.S. react, they ask, if Mexico wanted to join a military alliance led by China? In fact, how did the U.S. react in 1962, when Cuba decided to host Soviet nuclear missiles? For the sake of peace, this argument holds, Ukraine must remain neutral.
