Timothy Snyder on America’s Superpower Suicide

Russia’s war on Ukraine persists as a critical geopolitical flashpoint, with the conflict’s trajectory heavily influenced by shifting U.S. support. While Ukrainian forces demonstrate remarkable innovation, the deliberate withholding of essential missile defense systems allows Russia to systematically dismantle the Ukrainian economy. This prolonged engagement inadvertently upscales the Russian military, creating a more lethal adversary while simultaneously signaling weakness to global powers like China. Deterring future aggression, particularly regarding Taiwan, depends on Ukraine’s ability to defend its sovereignty and maintain the international legal order. Beyond the battlefield, the U.S. faces a crisis of leadership where transactional, short-term political gains supersede national interests, threatening institutional stability. This erosion of strategic focus, coupled with a dangerous reliance on post-9/11 precedents for executive overreach, risks a form of "superpower suicide" that jeopardizes both domestic democracy and global security.