Ukraine is not a member of NATO and thus is not entitled to the guaranteed mutual defense members offer one another. On the other hand, what is happening in Ukraine is exactly what NATO is intended to prevent. When the tools we are using are inappropriate for our mission, we do not abandon our mission — we change tools.

Mutual defense is not NATO’s mission. Its mission goes far beyond simply fighting for one another. Its mission is to prevent the world from descending into a maelstrom of wars like those that raged in Europe for generations. That gruesome history culminated in two world wars that killed tens of millions of people.

Russia is a bad actor, willing to use its military might and nuclear arsenal to cudgel and threaten any country that opposes its expansionist goals. It is testing NATO, and NATO is failing. Russia is murdering Ukrainians in an imperialistic war that surely will spread to other non-NATO countries if it is successful. Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons will be just as intimidating in a war against Finland or Sweden as it is in a war against Ukraine.

Russia needs to lose its war in Ukraine, and if NATO must intervene to make that happen, then it should intervene.

Ken Hines

Athens