In Ukraine, We Need Off-Ramps, Not More Escalation

Is there more the United States can do to help Ukraine resist Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war of choice? Could NATO be more aggressive in its response to the biggest land war in Europe since World War II?

John Yoo and Robert Zubrin use separate pieces in these pages to essentially make the same case: Yes, it can. Yoo alleges that the Biden administration is over-dramatizing the risk of escalation with Russia and mischaracterizing the U.S. experience during the Cold War in order to keep Washington from embracing a more proactive approach. Zubrin’s argument is bolder: Washington is keen on tying Moscow down but is uninterested in giving the Ukrainians the necessary military support to prevail. For Zubrin, the entire Ukraine imbroglio is a black-and-white phenomenon: Either Ukraine emerges victorious, or the U.S. watches as a Chinese surrogate, otherwise known as Putin’s Russia, dominates the Eurasian continent.