, Columnist
Ukraine Is a Test for Future Wars and the West Is Failing
European allies and even the US aren’t living up to promises for boosting defenses to counter China’s aggression.
Future adversaries?
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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Since its outset, Russia’s war on Ukraine has posed two fundamental strategic questions. First, would Ukraine survive as an independent state? Second, would the democratic world use the war wisely, to get ready for the even greater dangers ahead?
Fifteen months into the conflict — and as Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive gets underway — we can be cautiously confident in answering the first question. Unless Ukraine is simply abandoned by its Western backers, it will emerge from this conflict terribly battered but not defeated.