As tensions flare in Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin has sent troops to the Ukrainian border. My recent op-ed addresses this from the perspective of the American response. In a call for bipartisanship, I lay out how I believe this should play out. I call for selling equipment to the Ukrainians, offering our military advisers to help them strategize, giving humanitarian aid, and working with NATO to share intelligence. However, I make the argument that we should not send troops.

I was the assistant administrator for the US Agency for International Development in charge of all democracy and conflict programs and have been endorsed by 25 former national security professionals. What I have learned is that a threat to democracy anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has gone on for centuries and I use this platform to make the call to President Biden that the people of Eastern Europe “deserve the chance to determine their own sovereignty and economic futures.” Check it out here.

Best,

Dave