Ukraine Shows We Need a Third Option Besides War and Sanctions
The search for a better option must begin now
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forces some difficult decisions on the United States. The reluctance to enter another foreign war after the debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq have created isolationism in the US not seen since before World War II.
That isolationism is born of many factors, but chiefly it is due to the disastrous wars of choice the United States has pursued from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. While some beat a hawkish drum, they do so knowing that the clear majority of U.S. citizens oppose our military involvement in Ukraine even in the face of a Russian invasion.
That opposition spans the political spectrum. The pro-Trump far-right has steadfastly opposed foreign intervention. That was something Donald Trump picked up on early in his 2016 campaign and used to great effect against fellow Republicans in the primaries.
The progressive left recognizes that the United States has repeatedly commenced morally repugnant wars, in Vietnam, Central America, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places, with disastrous results for the people living in those countries, as well as for US troops and the US economy. The right and left, for wildly different reasons, come to jointly oppose American…
