Destruction of a building in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Ukrainian flag, circa March 2023. Ukraine’s struggle to maintain its independence mirrors that of the young United States. (Shutterstock/Melnikov Dmitriy)

The Ukraine War Is Still the Test of American Freedom

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Ukraine’s ideals are American ideals, and those ideals need ammunition.

This year, the United States of America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence. The Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776, represented a bold, visionary commitment to founding a self-governing republic liberated from the tyranny of the British Empire, which had imposed its rules arbitrarily on the American colonies. 

Americans demanded freedom from imperial control and the right to make their own rules for governing themselves as a nation. For the last 250 years, Americans have recognized that the dictatorship of empires denies the rights to self-government of subject peoples not only through unjust laws but also barbaric violence. Throughout its history, America has often tried to support nations struggling to be free.

On August 24, despite all the odds, Ukraine marks its 35th Independence Day. By the whims of history, its independence was declared first, and the war for independence was delayed for 23 years. Ukrainian Thomas Paines are writing Common Sense of the 21st century to counter modern imperial tyrants. 

Just as Americans got creative with asymmetric measures to defend their independence against the mighty British imperial navy, Ukraine—despite having no fleet—deterred Russians from the Black Sea. Today’s Ukrainian George Washingtons are creating the doctrines and methods of the new generation of warfare.

America secured its independence with decisive help from France, once Britain’s most formidable rival. Ukraine now requires the same clarity of purpose from the only power Moscow genuinely fears: the United States. Ronald Reagan reduced his strategy toward the Soviet Union to four words: “We win, they lose.” That conviction—not another attempt to manage Russian aggression at Ukraine’s cost—must guide Western policy today.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is approaching its independence anniversary with less help than ever and foggy partners’........

© The National Interest