The moral failure of considering Ukraine for NATO
![Vladimir Putin and President Biden.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xwrCuNyVeUZEGAuKuMRzP6-415-80.jpg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine is fundamentally unjust, as wars of choice invariably are. The civilized world is correct to condemn the subjugation of a weaker country by a stronger one.
But morality in foreign policy isn't confined to alignment with the proper values and abstract principles, however important those are. Putin has no right to be doing what he is doing and bears the ultimate responsibility for the ensuing bloodshed. Yet he does have the power to do it. Policies designed to help Ukraine must be judged not only by their intentions, but by their real-world consequences.
Ukraine is a sovereign nation. That gives its government a right to join alliances of its own choosing. That may not, however, be wise given certain unpleasant yet unavoidable circumstances. Russia, a more powerful country, opposes Ukrainian NATO membership. Moscow is willing to go to war to prevent it. The Western powers correctly objecting to Russia's incursions are not willing to pay the same costs to defend Ukraine; they have thus far not even been willing to let Ukraine into NATO. Ukraine is unlikely to win a war with Russia on its own and will sustain great casualties trying to defend itself.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What good does it do Ukraine for the U.S. and its allies to defend the principle that it can join an alliance, yet not confer upon it any of the benefits of this alliance, at the risk of a Russian invasion? This principle may be right and Russia wrong in a cosmic sense. But what moral good is achieved if Ukraine's exposure to a bloody war is heightened instead? Even if Putin has expansionist designs beyond simply keeping the West away from his doorstep, which he clearly does, NATO expansion or half-hearted talk thereof does not automatically become a good idea if there's no real willingness to defend Ukraine from a Kremlin attack.
Foreign policy can be informed by what is good and true, but it can never be truly moral if it cannot realistically accomplish its objectives. Predictably setting people up for death and destruction can never be moral, even with the right intentions in contrast with Putin's murderous ones.
It's a lesson a superpower with 20 years of wars that either failed or yielded ambiguous outcomes should learn. Sadly, Ukraine may learn it instead.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
Mushroom edibles are tripping up users
the explainer The psychedelics can sometimes have questionable components
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Prisons are simply not prepared for extreme heat
Under the radar Inmates are at severe risk of heat-related illness
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
What financial impacts can you expect when the Fed finally cuts rates?
The Explainer The Federal Reserve is poised to slash interest rates in the coming months
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
How Biden's enablers may have delayed his bowing out
Talking Points Joe Biden's inner circle faces calls for a reckoning for allegedly shielding the president — and the public — from questions of aging and electoral viability
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The Democrats 'resigned to a second Trump presidency'
Talking Points Did the assassination attempt end Biden's election chances?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Are down-ticket Democrats doomed?
Talking Points President Joe Biden's refusal to step back from his reelection campaign has some local Democrats wondering if their own races are in trouble — but not everyone is worried
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why Project 2025 is creating headaches for the Trump campaign
Talking Points Democrats want to make Trump 'own' the controversial plan
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
US and Germany foil Russian assassination plot
Speed Read The target was the CEO of Rheinmetall, which has been making weapons for Ukraine
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets to fly 'this summer'
Speed Read Warplanes sent by the U.S. and other NATO allies will help combat Russian forces
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published