Forward: This essay is directed to my fellow US citizens. The US and its allies are what stand between liberal democracy and rising global authoritarianism. Authoritarian states have proven to be quite resistant to rising democracy. We cannot let it get started without pushback. Just so we are on the same page, here is a description from Wikipedia-

“Liberal democracy or western democracy is the combination of a liberal political philosophy that operates under a representative democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society, a market economy with private property, universal suffrage, and the equal protection of human rights, civil rights, civil liberties and political freedoms for all people. To define the system in practice, liberal democracies often draw upon a constitution, either codified or uncodified, to delineate the powers of government and enshrine the social contract. “

Wikipedia “Liberal Democracy”

The United States is on the cusp of making a fateful choice based on the results of the 2024 national election. While there are numerous issues simmering, I refer to the growing movement among conservatives to back off on military support for Ukraine. This group believes that we’ve spent far too much money on military aid for Ukraine’s defense and that these resources should be directed towards the homeland. The fact is that the US and other NATO countries have indeed sent a very large quantity of armaments and cash to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began.

What might the consequences be if the US and others simply backed away and let the two countries duke it out? In other words, we practice some old fashion isolationism. Here are some thoughts-

• Putin is a murderous dictator with designs on (re)establishing a more widespread Russian empire. He wants to extinguish what is now Ukraine and meld it into a greater Russia. He believes that Russia is destined become a “great” power again. Suh a dream is not unexpected by a leader, but he began his expansion in 2014 with his quiet annexation of southern Ukraine.
• Unfortunately, Ukraine is not where it stops. The eastern European and Baltic states are well aware of this threat and the history behind it.
• The question of Putin’s mental state is of great interest to intelligence communities and to heads of state. Barbara S. Held, clinical psychologist and emeritus psychology professor at Bowdoin College, suggests that on the “sad/mad/bad” scale, Putin shows no signs of being sad or mad. What remains is the matter of bad. Coming away from the Held article, one is left with the sense that Putin’s “problem” isn’t legal insanity or a clinical disorder, but rather he is just a really bad person who makes what he thinks are rational choices and occasionally makes misjudgments.

“By all accounts, he [Putin] misjudged the ease of his mission, and shows no remorse about his massive killing in Ukraine. But poor judgment and moral callousness alone don’t constitute legal insanity or madness in the psychological sense.”

Barbara S. Held, New York Daily News, March 16, 2022.

• Crucially for Putin’s Kremlin, the state has such pervasive control that citizens are existentially afraid to defy the government. Putin is surrounded by many, many layers of loyalists. Putin’s Kremlin is a black box. Who knows what could happen in a power contest? It’s been said that in Russia, the rule of thumb is that if the people stay out of politics, the government will stay out of their lives.
• Putin’s Kremlin believes that the mere existence of a successful liberal democracy like the US is an continuous threat to authoritarianism in general and to Putin’s Russia in particular. The Kremlin propaganda organs strenuously broadcast the weak and clumsy machinations in the US on a daily basis. This is very similar to the standard operating procedures of the former Soviet Union.
• The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) believes very much the same thing. Liberal democracy in the world, with the US in particular, is an existential threat to Chinese leadership. The CCP can’t very well allow the public to seek greater freedom of speech lest citizens begin to question CCP authority.
• An isolationist US is a country that has ceded its global influence to those who mean us harm. As US influence in the world diminishes, China and Russia will gradually move in to take up any slack.

A decision by the US to back-off its aid to Ukraine will create a power vacuum that will be instantly filled by the Putin regime. It will validate the assertions by the Russian and Chinese propaganda organs that the US is morally corrupt and weak and that its hegemony is finally over.

Why is Russia so aggressive? Look the long and complex history of the region and decide for yourself. A place to start might be with the Holodomor.