There has been widespread criticism of recent statements by prominent GOP leaders such as former President Donald Trump and prospective presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that the war in Ukraine is not in the national interest of the United States.
Both have characterized the war as a "territorial dispute," a term which is more appropriate for the occasional border skirmishes that arise between countries such as China and India in which a few hundred soldiers fire shots at each other every so often to prevent anyone from moving the territorial markers.
Territorial disputes in the traditional sense of the term do not involve an unprovoked, brutal invasion of one country (Russia) of another country (Ukraine) accompanied by indiscriminate bombing and rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities, extensive war crimes against the civilian population and the forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to the most desolate regions of Russia.
The scope of aid given to Ukraine by the United States over the past year has been massive, totaling some 73 billion euros ($78 billion) according to the German-based Kiel Institute, and includes roughly 44 billion euros ($47 billion) in military aid, 25 billion euros ($26.7 billion) in financial support and 3.7 billion euros ($3.95 billion) in humanitarian aid.
It dwarfs the contributions of the other leading powers to the Ukrainian war effort including those of the United Kingdom (8.3 billion euros or $8.8 billion) and Germany (6.15 billion euros or $6.56 billion). Indeed, the entire 27-nation European Union, which has become painfully aware of the proximity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine, has contributed an estimated 35 billion euros ($37.38 billion) to Ukraine since Putin's tanks rolled across the border.
The GOP has historically favored an active role for the United States in the world, reasoning, not surprisingly, that the world's leading economic and military power should not be reluctant to wield its influence beyond its own shores and thus better assure its own safety.
But the Republican Party has always been colored by a strong undercurrent of isolationism, with its proponents advocating that the United States focus on its own problems and devote its resources to improving the lives of its own citizens.
Those politicians such as Trump and DeSantis warning against continued involvement in the Ukrainian conflict argue that Ukraine's fate has little relevance for the United States due to its geographical remoteness and economic irrelevance.
They also appear to be concerned about the open-ended nature of this commitment to Ukraine's war against Russia as well as the possibility that an increasingly desperate Putin might use nuclear weapons to prevent the collapse of the Russian military.
Certainly more than a few commentators have suggested that the Biden administration —which has declared that it will support Ukraine for "as long as it takes" — has shown more concern for the sanctity of Ukraine's borders than the U.S. southern border, which continues to be a popular destination for pretty much anyone who wants to come to the United States without waiting in line.
However, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has articulated a compelling reason for the West continuing to support Ukraine's existential war against Russia: Ukraine's soldiers are fighting and dying on the battlefield so that the soldiers of other countries such as Poland, Moldavia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia do not have to go to war.
At the same time, they are exhausting Russia's military capabilities, thus reducing the threat of a Russian invasion of other countries for the foreseeable future.
Nearly 200,000 Russian soldiers are estimated to have been killed or wounded in the year-old conflict, a number that is eight times higher than the casualties suffered by the United States in two decades of war in Afghanistan.
Some commentators have dusted off the "domino theory" playbook, arguing that the fall of Ukraine would allow the ever-rapacious Russia to overrun much of Eastern Europe.
Although the poor military performance of Russia in Ukraine to date has cast much doubt on that thesis, Russia's takeover of Ukraine (or at least its political emasculation of Kyiv) would enable Russia to project its military power further westward and radically alter the political and economic dynamics of Europe.
Moreover, Russia has threated nearly every country featured in a Fodors Travel guide so it is not idle speculation that Russia would seek to reimpose its will on many of the former Soviet-bloc countries if given the opportunity to do so.
Despite the arguments of many Republicans that the United States should turn its attention to its own problems (as though it does not already throw trillions of dollars down the domestic rathole of entitlements and earmarks each year), the monies being sent to Ukraine may represent the best return on defense expenditures that are projected to increase to $797 billion in 2023.
After all, one of the two greatest adversaries of the United States is being bled to death on the battlefield by a defiant Ukraine — whose heroic efforts have reinvigorated NATO and forced Western politicians to focus on the geopolitical threats that continue to be posed by Putin's Russia.
The concern about the monies being spent on the Ukranian war should focus more on ensuring the most efficient allocation of those funds.
In other words, the United States should continue its funding of the war but make sure that these dollars are not being pilfered or otherwise diverted along the way by Ukrainian officials who may want to purchase penthouse apartments on Miami Beach or super yachts that would make a Russian oligarch blush.
Jefferson Hane Weaver is a transactional lawyer residing in Florida. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of North Carolina and his J.D. and Ph.D. in International Relations from Columbia University. Dr. Weaver is the author of numerous books on varied compelling subjects. Read more of his reports — Here.
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