for The Hill

By unleashing a Russian blitzkrieg on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin also has shattered Europe’s long peace, with enormous implications for U.S. security. The pacification of Europe – the world’s most dangerous cauldron of conflict in the last century – was the supreme achievement of American statecraft, and it may be coming undone.

The Russian strongman’s resort to brute force to crush Ukraine’s independence is a tragedy for its 40 million citizens. But by ordering the largest military mobilization in Europe since World War II, Putin also has sought to strong arm the transatlantic allies into rolling back NATO’s eastward expansion after the Cold War ended.

President Biden and European leaders have stood fast against this absurd demand. They know that appeasing Putin by giving him a free hand in Moscow’s “sphere of influence” would not bring peace. Instead, it would destabilize and re-divide Europe, subjecting nine NATO members that used to be Soviet vassals once again to Russian dictates.