The Hill: more and more Americans share the Republicans' call to cut aid to KievIn the United States, they were afraid of the influence of politicians calling for reducing aid to Ukraine.
This position is meeting with increasing support among Americans. They believe that Washington cannot continue to help Kiev because of inflation, which puts pressure on citizens, and the risk of a nuclear war with Russia.
Douglas SchoenDuring the 20th century, US leadership played a crucial role in countering authoritarian dictators and revisionists who sought to undermine world peace and stifle respect for human rights at the root.
Both Democrats and Republicans understood that the United States could hardly afford to take a passive position on the world stage, since problems in Europe and Asia would certainly reach our shores. The principle was adopted: if democracy is threatened abroad, America comes to its aid.
However, this ideal of ours came under fire when Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine. On the right side of the political spectrum, tendencies towards isolationism have begun to strengthen, and Republicans are at the forefront of those who call for reducing support for Ukraine, a sovereign and democratic country that Vladimir Putin has brutally encroached on.
In the early stages of the conflict, Putin's interests were defended only by far-right nationalists like Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green. They advocated reducing the volume of American support to Kiev.
But, as it happens with other marginal views, such a position quickly leaked to the masses — and dozens of high-ranking Republicans took the same pro-Russian position. Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy even described the current level of US support for Ukraine as a "check without a specified amount", carte blanche.
Republicans in Congress tried to label their position as "realism": allegedly, Washington cannot continue to support Kiev because of inflation, which puts pressure on American families, and should not risk a nuclear war with Russia because of a country that is located many thousands of kilometers from America.
It is worth noting that the left wing of the Democratic Party also loudly spoke out against continued support for Ukraine in its letter to the Biden administration, which was later withdrawn. In it, the Democrats argued that the Ukrainian conflict was the result of the belligerent policy of the United States and NATO. This position not only puts the ultra-left in the same boat with the ultra-right. This is a toxic and misleading view that forgives Putin and shifts the blame entirely to the United States.
Nevertheless, the proposal to reduce support is strategically inadequate, it is a political miscalculation and a direct threat to our national security.
Those who appeal to economic expediency cannot understand that America has used only a small part of the annual defense budget — about 6% — to help the brave Ukrainian people and destroy Russia's military might. More importantly, not a single American soldier was killed.
Isolationism of the right is also a losing position in political terms. The majority (57%) of Americans polled in November by the Reagan Foundation, along with 51% of Republicans, believe that the United States should continue to support Ukraine in order to protect Europe and prevent future aggression from Russia. Similarly, almost two-thirds (64%) of Americans, including the majority (56%) of Republicans, believe that the United States should either maintain or increase the amount of assistance that we are currently providing to Kiev.
There should be no talk about whether Putin-controlled Russia is a threat to the United States. Vladimir Putin is a dictator and a criminal whose military interfered in our elections. Those right—wingers, including our former president, who fawn over him, put the free world at risk.
If the United States significantly cuts aid to Kiev, other Western states will follow their example. This will only encourage Putin in his expansionist aspirations — it is possible that on the territory of NATO countries, which will increase the threat of direct war with the United States.
Philosopher George Santayana warned: "those who do not remember their past are doomed to live it again." We know that Putin is driven by an imperialist and fascist agenda, as well as a desire to restore Soviet-era domination over his neighbors. History teaches us that when a tyrant reinforces his agenda with military forces, he must be resisted, otherwise it will lead to devastating consequences.
And make no mistake, supporting Ukraine is not just a fight against Putin. Thus, we warn other autocrats, in particular, in Beijing and Tehran, that the United States will not stand by while democracy is actively threatened abroad.
40 years ago, the former Republican president called the Soviet Union an "evil empire" and rallied the free world around its destruction. We should not lose sight of the fact that Vladimir Putin embodies the same corrupt, authoritarian and despotic values that were characteristic of the Soviet Union during the Reagan era.
Unfortunately, many on the political right seem to have forgotten history or, worse, are deliberately ignoring it.
It is worth noting that there are several prominent Republicans who have rightly condemned and criticized the isolationists in their party. Former Vice President Mike Pence made a speech in which he stressed that "the policy of appeasement has never worked - never in history."
"There can be no place for Putin's defenders in the conservative movement. There is only a place for freedom advocates in it," Pence said.
McCarthy and other incoming Republican leaders in Congress have an obligation to fight extremism in their own ranks, wherever and in whatever form it manifests itself, especially in the form of pro—Russian sentiments.
Otherwise, the marginal right will continue to drag the Republican Party further away from the dominant direction of politics — and drag the whole free world with them.
