{"id":1654024,"date":"2022-09-22T19:50:43","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T23:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1654024"},"modified":"2022-09-22T19:52:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T23:52:03","slug":"we-simply-have-to-step-back-the-realist-approach-to-war-in-ukraine-and-americas-european-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-simply-have-to-step-back-the-realist-approach-to-war-in-ukraine-and-americas-european-allies\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Simply Have To Step Back\u2019: The Realist Approach To War In Ukraine And America\u2019s European Allies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwe-simply-have-to-step-back-the-realist-approach-to-war-in-ukraine-and-americas-european-allies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1654024&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/russia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Russian<\/a> troops have retreated amidst a successful Ukrainian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/good-decision-for-them-to-run-russian-forces-retreating-as-ukraines-counteroffensive-sees-success\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">counteroffensive<\/a> in recent weeks, but the brutal war drags on toward winter with no end in sight.<\/p>\n<p>As they defend their homeland, the Ukrainians rely on billions of dollars in U.S. assistance as European powers balance supporting President Volodymyr Zelensky while also facing an energy crisis made worse by their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/europeans-resort-to-burning-wood-amid-desperate-search-for-energy-now-greta-thunberg-wants-to-limit-that-too\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">green energy policies<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/eu-plans-to-reduce-dependence-on-russian-fossil-fuels-well-before-2030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dependence<\/a> on Russian oil. Meanwhile, America\u2019s greatest international adversary in Beijing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/china-launching-targeted-military-operations-encircling-taiwan-after-pelosi-lands-on-island\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">eyes Taiwan<\/a> in what could become another strategic nightmare for a Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/senate-report-reveals-biden-failures-that-led-to-botched-afghanistan-withdrawal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rattled<\/a> by foreign policy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/none-of-the-three-occurred-biden-denies-making-foreign-policy-gaffes-that-white-house-walked-back\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">blunders<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With experts in the U.S. debating the best way to approach the current list of foreign policy challenges, the public is inundated with ideological perspectives that range from nationalistic isolationism to global interventionism. But, according to American Institute of Economic Research (AIER) President Dr. William Ruger, there\u2019s a more balanced way to address America\u2019s foreign policy issues.<\/p>\n<p>He calls it a realist approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a realist, so I\u2019m not opposed to alliances when they\u2019re appropriate means to reaching our national security goals,\u201d Ruger said in an interview with The Daily Wire. \u201cBut we have to recognize that, unlike President Biden who talked about our alliances as \u2018sacred,\u2019 they are [a] means, and there are some pathologies to alliances, one of them being that you can get chain ganged into conflicts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ruger, an Afghanistan veteran who was nominated by former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, explained that the U.S. has often been \u201cchain ganged\u201d into foreign conflicts by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/europe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">European<\/a> powers, such as when America got involved in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/syria\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Syria<\/a> under former President Barack Obama in 2014. As the leader of the free world, the U.S. often bends to the wishes of its alliances and ends up fronting the bill that comes along with those demands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOften times, our European allies are just not designed to, in terms of their fore-structure and their military budget, to have the kind of approach that we\u2019ve taken over the last 20-30 years, and I worry that there\u2019s disjuncture between American interests and what our allies are willing to do, particularly because they won\u2019t have to pay the full cost,\u201d said Ruger.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. has already committed upwards of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/senate-advances-massive-40-billion-ukraine-spending-package-11-republicans-oppose\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$40 billion<\/a> to Ukraine since the end of January, more than every country in the world combined, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifw-kiel.de\/topics\/war-against-ukraine\/ukraine-support-tracker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to figures from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The American government\u2019s military aid to Ukraine has, no doubt, helped the country fend off its Russian invaders. After nearly seven months of fighting, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/vladimir-putin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vladimir Putin<\/a>\u2019s forces have caused death and destruction, but remain far from accomplishing a full-scale takeover of the country.<\/p>\n<p>A Ukrainian counteroffensive even successfully <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/good-decision-for-them-to-run-russian-forces-retreating-as-ukraines-counteroffensive-sees-success\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pushed<\/a> Russian forces from two areas in eastern Ukraine. The country of 44 million people has fought valiantly against Russia\u2019s army, demonstrating to the world that Putin\u2019s growl exaggerates his bite. Yet, the optimistic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/volodymyr-zelensky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zelensky<\/a> says his country still needs an undefined amount of time before the end of the war. \u201cWe can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms,\u201d the Ukrainian president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/09\/21\/zelenskyy-ukraine-russia-ap-00058201\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> the United Nations Wednesday. \u201cBut we need time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But how much longer do American taxpayers fund Ukraine\u2019s defense? Is there a financial threshold for U.S. aid to Ukraine, or should the Biden administration do whatever it takes to keep Zelensky\u2019s army going?<\/p>\n<p>Ruger explained that while he fully supports the Ukrainians\u2019 fight for independence, he\u2019s \u201calso a realist\u201d and worries about the rhetoric used by American leaders when discussing their all-out commitment to supporting Ukraine in the war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that one of the challenges of providing this support is it may, especially if you hear people talk about \u2018We\u2019ll do anything it takes,\u2019 that type of language could prevent the kind of diplomatic end to the conflict that is how most wars end,\u201d Ruger added.<\/p>\n<p>The former vice president for research and policy at the Charles Koch Institute said that the lessons learned from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/world-war-ii\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">World War II<\/a> are still engrained in Americans\u2019 minds as the perfect example of how to address aggression, but those picture-book history lessons aren\u2019t perfect representations of the factors surrounding a war. Ruger emphasized that wars don\u2019t simply end in the fashionable battleship peace treaties and victory parades that people usually think about.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not the way the world generally works,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, for bloodshed to cease, countries often must be willing to compromise. American leaders looking at Ukraine from the outside need to focus on what is most important to the interests of the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone has to say it, but Ukraine just isn\u2019t that strategically important to the United States. It just isn\u2019t,\u201d Ruger said.<\/p>\n<p>Ruger explained that it\u2019s possible to hold this realist view while also sympathizing with Ukraine, but sympathy for Ukraine \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean the United States\u2019 national interests are on the line,\u201d he said. \u201cWe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russian troops have retreated amidst a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent weeks, but the brutal war drags on toward winter with no end in sight. As they defend their homeland, the Ukrainians rely on billions of dollars in U.S. assistance as European powers balance supporting President Volodymyr Zelensky while also facing an energy crisis made &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1654026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1654024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1654024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1654026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1654024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1654024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1654024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}