

“Never again,” again
Venezuela, the brutal civil war in Sudan, and the continuous instability in the Middle East, to the war in Ukraine and the growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait. All these crises have global implications.In the face of these myriad emergencies, it is no surprise that the West, broadly understood, is contending with its greatest challenge in decades. At the root of this challenge lies a sense of civilizational exhaustion, of which our adversaries have taken notice, confident that their time has come.But has it? More than 1,350 days have passed since Russia launched its three-day “special military operation”—its illegal and unprovoked war of aggression—against Ukraine.
At least 1.5 million Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed in the fighting since then, more than a thousand per day. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, and it alone, bears full responsibility for this heavy toll.Sadly, we should expect more death and destruction. Russia is striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure (with both missiles and drones) in an effort to break the country’s will by plunging its cities into winter darkness and bone-chilling cold.
Despite mounting economic troubles, the Kremlin is boosting military spending to nearly 40% of the country’s budget. Its planes and drones are violating NATO airspace and disrupting airports—not only in neighboring countries like Estonia, but also in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. Its war machine is accelerating, and its goal is clear: to intimidate not only Ukrainians, but also Western societies.Such behavior makes three things clear.
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