For Ukraine, Moral Promises Without Moral Commitments

Conservatives are used to condemning politicians for making promises of government largesse and expenditure without ever thinking through the public’s willingness to pay for it. But, when it comes to foreign policy, the same mistake is even more tempting and more ruinous to make. The politician aggrandizes himself by making fantastic moral promises, but he never really gauges whether the public is willing to make the moral commitments — give the attention, bear the risks, pay the opportunity costs, and lay down blood and treasure — to make those promises credible.

Sometimes, our public figures seem aware that they are engaged in an all-sermon, no-sacrifice politics. “I don’t know how this will end if you give Ukraine defensive capability,” Senator Lindsey Graham explained, “but I know this: I will feel better because when my nation was needed to stand up to the garbage and to stand by freedom, I stood by freedom. . . . They [the Ukrainians] may die, they may lose, but I’ll tell you what . . . if somebody doesn’t push back better, we’re all gonna lose.”

About the Author

Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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Conservatives are used to condemning politicians for making promises of government largesse and expenditure without ever thinking through the public’s willingness to pay for it. But, when it comes to foreign policy, the same mistake is even more tempting and more ruinous to make. The politician aggrandizes himself by making fantastic moral promises, but he never really gauges whether the public is willing to make the moral commitments — give the attention, bear the risks, pay the opportunity costs, and lay down blood and treasure — to make those promises credible.

Sometimes, our public figures seem aware that they are engaged in an all-sermon, no-sacrifice politics. “I don’t know how this will end if you give Ukraine defensive capability,” Senator Lindsey Graham explained, “but I know this: I will feel better because when my nation was needed to stand up to the garbage and to stand by freedom, I stood by freedom. . . . They [the Ukrainians] may die, they may lose, but I’ll tell you what . . . if somebody doesn’t push back better, we’re all gonna lose.”