Ukrainian resistance against Russia may be more impactful than Western aid, according to new op-ed

Northwestern professor and political scientist Jordan Gans-Morse recently published an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune regarding the amount of aid the West contributes to the crisis in Ukraine. In the article, Gans-Morse and his co-author Ian Kelly argue that Ukraine’s efforts to stop Russia’s invasion far outweigh the support countries like the United States can offer.

“In fact, we owe more to the Ukrainians who are resisting Vladimir Putin than they do to us,” Gans-Morse writes. “The West has been far too complacent toward the threats of expansionist authoritarianism in Europe and East Asia and the rise of illiberal values in our own midst. Thanks to Ukrainians’ brave resistance and Putin’s brutal repression of freedom in Russia and Ukraine, we have begun to awaken to these threats to our fundamental values and institutions.”

The piece also describes the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on democratic ideologies in the West, claiming that it has promoted urgency among countries who have become “complacent toward the threats of expansionist authoritarianism in Europe and East Asia.”

According to the article, “however this war unfolds, we in the West should recognize that while our aid, donations, and rallies undeniably strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to withstand Russian aggression, this support pales in comparison with the contributions Ukraine is making in return.”

Read more in the Chicago Tribune’s, “Ukraine is on the front line of defending Western democracy.”