What Was Old is New Again

The images of tanks streaming into Ukraine this morning is a visceral reminder that what was old is new again. These were the images that our fathers grew up with. Back then it was grainy black and white news reels between shows at the movies, screaming headlines in dark black letters splashed across the newspapers. Now, my Apple Watch buzzes me awake with the notification that war has begun in Eastern Europe. I come downstairs and see the live stream from the border, rows of military vehicles, spent missile fragments in town squares cordoned off with police tape, long lines of Ukrainian men signing up for military service, silver streaks across the sky then a flash of orange in the distance followed by billows of black smoke. I listen to some official at the UN holding a live press conference talking about solidarity, contingency plans and a virtual summit meeting scheduled for later today.

I read of the denunciations coming in from all over the world, from practically every country I’ve ever heard of including my own. My President calls it an “unprovoked and unjustified attack” that will result in “catastrophic loss of life.” Leaders of Europe are talking about severe sanctions and economic isolation, to which Vladimir Putin’s reaction so far seems to be communicated clearly in this photograph…

Now we all will get to see what happens when the New World Order meets an Old World strongman with nuclear weapons. Maybe Putin overreaches. Maybe the Ukrainian military surprises him by their fighting spirit. Maybe he has vastly overestimated his strength. Maybe the sanctions eventually prove too much for his backwater economy to handle. Maybe he pulls back. But, there’s another possibility. Maybe he succeeds and within months or even weeks, Ukraine falls. Will that be enough to assuage his appetite for conquest? Or will he then turn his eyes towards other former Soviet client states like Lithuania, Latvia, or Georgia? Then what?

Whatever happens, we better get used to seeing photographs like this of a woman injured by an air strike in Kharkiv…

Knowing exactly what to do in moments like this is far beyond my education, training and experience. I wouldn’t know where to begin in crafting a response. Geopolitics is beyond my pay grade. All I know is that I don’t want to see pictures like this one where the bloody face is an American Marine. But still, the heart goes out to the innocent civilians who will absorb the brunt of Putin’s ego trip. My heart is with the Ukrainian military who will muster their defense against an overwhelming, hostile force. And my prayers this morning are for the leaders of my country that they will find the wisdom to make the right call in response.