Ukraine

In this episode, Mark Melton speaks with Lieutenant Colonel Tyson K. Wetzel (US Air Force) about how the United States can help Ukraine fight Russia effectively without NATO and Russia getting into a war.

Does the Catholic Church still believe in the doctrine of just war? Last week, Pope Francis told Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, “At one time we also spoke in our churches of holy war or just war. Today we cannot speak like that.”

Shame on us if we do not act to deter what amount to escalating war crimes by Russia in Ukraine.

Before taking a look at justice, let’s take a step back and consider the explicitly Christian foundations for thinking about political order.

Marc LiVecche and Rebeccah Heinrichs discuss the war in Ukraine, the intersection of just war reasoning and the facts on the ground, future options against Putin, how best to assist President Zelensky and his brave compatriots, and the question of regaining escalatory dominance against the Russian regime.

Once again, public opinion polls have disappointed isolationists and others who want the United States to have a minimalist foreign policy. Almost overnight, a large swath of America now wants to counter Russia, and elected officials who want to keep their jobs have responded.

The Free World needs to rediscover its identity and its confidence as a global force for good, with lower thresholds for taking decisive, unified action, and greater attentiveness to “canary violations” like those against religious freedom.

The jus post bellum (the ethics of ending war and building peace) categories of order, justice, and conciliation can help us think through how the war in Ukraine should end.

The money that China receives from trade with Europe, America, and Japan can help Russia continue its attack on Ukraine. So the West must consider how to impose costs on Beijing so that it stops supporting Russia economically.