Ukraine Aid: It’s Worth Going Down Fighting

If you want a serious intra-conservative debate on U.S. aid to the Ukrainian war effort, I highly recommend listening to my colleagues Noah Rothman, Charlie Cooke, and Michael Brendan Dougherty on The Editors, a debate continued at director’s-cut length on Charlie’s podcast. I side mostly with Noah and Charlie — Michael is outnumbered here at National Review in opposing aid — but it’s a rigorous and passionate debate on both sides.

Let me address one thing Michael said. It’s common ground that one of the important things at stake in the Ukraine conflict is the credibility of the United States, the NATO alliance, and the wider American-led liberal order that has governed the non-Communist world since 1945 and has extended to the old Warsaw Pact and many of the former Soviet republics since 1991. Both Michael and Noah agreed that it is vital for America and its allies to preserve credible deterrence in order to keep Russia, China, and other bad actors from using force or the threat of force to seize or extort concessions.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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If you want a serious intra-conservative debate on U.S. aid to the Ukrainian war effort, I highly recommend listening to my colleagues Noah Rothman, Charlie Cooke, and Michael Brendan Dougherty on The Editors, a debate continued at director’s-cut length on Charlie’s podcast. I side mostly with Noah and Charlie — Michael is outnumbered here at National Review in opposing aid — but it’s a rigorous and passionate debate on both sides.

Let me address one thing Michael said. It’s common ground that one of the important things at stake in the Ukraine conflict is the credibility of the United States, the NATO alliance, and the wider American-led liberal order that has governed the non-Communist world since 1945 and has extended to the old Warsaw Pact and many of the former Soviet republics since 1991. Both Michael and Noah agreed that it is vital for America and its allies to preserve credible deterrence in order to keep Russia, China, and other bad actors from using force or the threat of force to seize or extort concessions.