MALIBU, Calif. – As the Russia-Ukraine war wages on, we asked Professor Robert Kaufman of Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy for his in-depth views. Kaufman specializes in American foreign policy, national security and international relations. He has written several books on these subjects.
What follows is a Q&A that has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. We strongly encourage you to watch the accompanying video so you may hear Kaufman in his own words.
Q: Is Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a hero?
A: Zelenskyy has been an absolute hero, almost a symbol of the heroism of the Ukrainian people. It’s been very humbling watching Zelenskyy, who, based on his past profile, you never would've predicted – a comedian, short of stature – to literally be the hero of the world and force us to confront evil the way Zelenskyy has, and in a way we never would've done had the Ukrainians folded and Russian President Vladimir Putin had rolled over them as Biden had expected.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during his meeting with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 1, 2022. ((Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP))
Ukraine's courage is humbling and it's convicting. And if we want to make sure that Ukraine and Ukrainians don't die in vain for cherishing their freedom in the way that we should, but we take it for granted, we have a moral obligation and a geopolitical imperative – ideals and self-interest coincide – to defeat Putin in Ukraine and vindicate that great sacrifice. We owe Ukraine a lot for their heroism.
That said, Putin's miscalculation isn't over. If this ends with Ukraine's heroism being a brief shining moment to a Russian victory because Putin's willing to pay the price and we are not willing to stop him when we have the resources to do it, then Ukraine will end as a tragedy. It will not be the arousing, galvanizing, inspiring lesson reminding us of what former President Reagan said: Every generation is going to have to fight for its freedom, because if you don’t, and if you don't understand how you got your freedom in the first place, you can lose it in a generation.
Ukrainians have more than met history’s challenge. Will we? That again, to paraphrase Shakespeare, is another question.
RUSSIAN FORCES IN UKRAINE COMMITTED ATROCITIES BEYOND EVEN THE NAZIS, ZELENSKYY SAYS
Q: What has Zelenskyy taught us?
A: Zelenskyy in Ukraine is in many ways inspiring and also in many ways, the person who raises the broader question of what the free world needs to do to be free.
Photo of Winston Churchill and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images/AP)
Zelenskyy reveals the great thing about freedom, that because of the marketplace of ideas, as well as the marketplace of economics, you will always find people and talent to rise to the occasion and surprise you. People you don't expect.
If Winston Churchill had died in 1938, at the time of the Munich crisis, his obituary would've looked a lot like his father’s: brilliant but often a failure. It took crisis to bring Churchill to power and reveal the type of leader we had.
In the United States, crisis has brought out the best of us. George Washington. The dismal decade of the '70s yielded Ronald Reagan.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walks before a meeting with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 1, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
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Zelenskyy reminds us that, as pessimistic as we can get at the moment, we should always remember Churchill's adage, which is biblical: "Never despair." There are people out there who can help us remain the land of the free and the home of the brave.
As a cautionary note, however, we have to enable those people, not silence those people with a suffocating woke agenda and conformity that eradicates the very impulses of the very best of us when we need it the most, when the chips are done.
May Zelenskyy remind us of the fundamentals that we need: fortitude and foresight, more than ever, when freedom is in peril. If we remember that, we will remain free and not lose it.
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