Does the war in Ukraine benefits the USA?

28 comments

1. I mean, it’s essentially a proxy war that allows us to fight Russia without actually putting any skin in the game. That said, I want Ukraine to be free and of course we should have their backs

2. Countries don’t have friends, they have interests.

   Its less that we gain anything. Its more what we lose if Putin and Russia expand their influence and territory.

3. It benefits the world by not having Russia take control of other countries.

4. The US wouldn’t lend aid if it didn’t advance their interests in some form. It’s a mix of altruistic and mercantile motives, though. It’s not as simple as pure mustache-twirling stimulus for the arms manufacturers, but it’s not as simple as a Marvel movie where Putin is Thanos, either.

5. First, aiding Ukraine is the right thing to do. Don’t discount that. The U.S. is always stronger when it does the right thing. It improves morale at home and among allies. The moral high ground matters.

   But second, as a practical matter, aiding Ukraine has strengthened NATO and strengthened the U.S. both militarily and diplomatically. The U.S. looks strong and Russia looks weak — but also dangerous, which drives countries toward the U.S. The strength of the U.S. is good for U.S. businesses, good for the dollar, and good for American citizens.

6. Influence, shoring up confidence in American military hardware, and reducing a hostile power’s own sphere. It’s all about maintaining our soft power.

7. The last 70 years or so of US history has involved some aspect of keeping Russian/Soviet attempts to disrupt the world order in check if you’re cynical, or keeping Russian imperialism from causing some real bad mojo if you’re less cynical.

   To this end, the US government has invested trillions of dollars in military spending on everything from nuclear weapons to literally hundreds of thousands of troops in Europe. And that was JUST to keep Russia on the right side of its internationally recognized borders.

   To not only check Russian aggression, but also destroy its conventional military…I mean shit even beyond (in my opinion at least) the moral imperative to aid the Ukrainians against an unprovoked invasion this is basically taking one of the US’s number one enemies off the playing field for years effectively. Even in a cynical Weltpolitik sense this is a slam dunk.

8. It’s cheaper to fight Putin in one country rather than many countries if he advances into say Poland. We essentially gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler and look where he took that.

9. Biggest benefit to the USA is exposing Russia’s military for what it truly is… highly corrupt, poorly trained and poorly equipped.

   Russia lost at least 60k soldiers in a year (estimates range from 60k to 220k). The USA lost about 2500 in 20 years in Afghanistan.

   They’ve had to recruit from prisons and kidnap people of the streets. Any fear that we’ve had that Russia is a formidable force is long, long gone now.

10. The biggest benefit is practice in the logistical challenges of transporting large amounts of military hardware overseas

11. Weakening Russia will free up our hand to deal with China. In addition it is a good war to test new military practices and technologies.

12. Keeping aggressive authoritarian regimes down is good for the well being of the entire world.. Last time I checked, the USA is part of the world.

13. I mean, yeah? I don’t think that’s some big secret; the official US line has been resisting Russia and before Russia the USSR since WWII.

    Things that are bad for Russia, geopolitically speaking, are generally good for the US. The Ukraine war wasn’t guaranteed to be bad for Russia, but that’s how it shook out, and I don’t think you’re going to find anyone complaining about that.

14. Yes, because it establishes an international norm that countries can’t just invade their neighbors out of some sense of “ethnic reunification”. The norm that would be established if we *didn’t* intervene would allow China to turn around and do exactly the same thing to Taiwan, war crimes and all.

    The idea here is to set and enforce principles within the international community that *prevent* World War 3, not start it.

15. I’m glad to see Europeans seemingly having a heightened awareness of the necessity for both national and even personal security. It’s good to see other NATO members taking on a more sacrificial level of assistance to another member. It has felt, for a long time, like America is that rich friend in your group, who always picks up the check for lunch. After a while it’s expected and then it seems it’s an entitlement. It’s great to see the other peers shouldering part of the burden.

16. I don’t think it’s benefiting us as a whole. The biggest impact we see is supply chain disruption. Helping Ukraine serves our interest, but it would be better if the war simply wasn’t happening.

17. With the power of hindsight it’s definitely bolstered US interests. Doubly so if Russia is driven back and an independent Ukraine remains in the aftermath.

    1. Finland joined NATO, which is exactly what Putin was trying to prevent Ukraine from doing. Sweden may also still join. It signals to both Russia and China that the west can and will come together to fight, and Finland’s army is a substantial boon to the alliance’s collective might. Plus it’s completely reinvigorated NATO, which was starting to look like an outdated relic of the Cold War.

    2. Assuming an independent Ukraine remains at the end of the war, the US will have likely gained another ally in the region due to all our support. Surely they’ll fast track Ukraine’s own NATO application the moment the fighting ends. Russia would hate that, but given their current military status Russia couldn’t do anything about it. A war with a collective and reinvigorated NATO would be an absolute disaster for Putin. Further solidifying the Pax Americana that has held in Western Europe since WW II.

    3. It’s demonstrated that a key geopolitical adversary (i.e. Russia) is far weaker than previously thought, and weaker still having sustained heavy losses in the war. Tepid allies and fence-sitters will have to think a bit harder about siding with Russia over The West having seen Russia’s lack of strength. Similarly, between the war and the sanctions Russia’s economic and soft power are also degraded.

    4. It will likely have the impact of Europe importing more American oil and natural gas, especially if OPEC continues on its current trajectory. Doubly so since Nord Stream got blown up. Even if relationships stabilize w/ Russia they’d still have to invest in more infrastructure to deliver the oil after that stabilization.

    5. It’s great for our military industrial complex, which I have mixed feelings about personally, but surely it’s generated economic value and a way for us to export some of our absurdly large stockpiles of military equipment that was otherwise going to waste. (Since we’re FINALLY not actively in any wars ourselves).

    6. I suspect the outcome makes Chinese leaders think a little harder about any attempts to “reunify” with Taiwan, but this is harder to measure and quantify.

    7. Another, harder to quantify but likely outcome, is that Russian oligarchs and Russian people are less pleased with Putin’s rule. This might amount to nothing, but it might amount to a coup or something akin to a revolution. Either outcome destabilizes Russia, and depending on the specifics might result in a more west-friendly Russia in the future.

18. Keeping power from Russia and not allowing them to rebuild the Soviet Union is the biggest military goal right now. This is not a war with Ukraine, this is a proxy war against the West and an attempt to rebuild the SU. The benefit to the US and the rest of the world is that Russia is kept weak and its weakness is exposed. If the West lost this proxy war and allowed Ukraine to fall, what’s stopping them from grabbing more land and invading further? They would have proven that the West is too scared to act, and then they would have access to more military bases, personnel, weapons, and land for the future.

19. My blunt thoughts are that it mainly intangibly benefits the US, as this is mainly Europe’s war. China is our main threat, and with Russia fucking around and finding out in Ukraine, the hope is that China won’t fuck around in Taiwan or India or any of the other countries they’re actively antagonizing. That being said, I can’t wait to see the day Putin falls. I think Ding Dong the Witch is Dead would be appropriate to play then.

    Should the US be helping Ukraine? Absolutely. It’s a better use of our older equipment than rusting away in some depot or heading to a scrapyard. Our older equipment is more than sufficient to counter the “glorious and powerful Russian army.” There’s also the logistics of moving equipment to a different continent, and if there’s one thing the US military is good at, it’s logistics.

20. Keeping Russia from expanding into Europe is a benefit to the US

21. It weakens Russia so yes it benefits the USA, Europe, and NATO.

22. Outside of the military: Having a free Ukraine reduces Russia/Belarus’s control of the world food supply through grain exports, which reduces inflation and world hunger. Ukraine also supplies rare earths and metals, neon gasses in the supply of semi conductors. This is critical to diversifying dependence on China and Russia for these things.

23. In stopping Russia and its vicious, bloody imperialism, yes it does benefit the U.S. just as it benefits the democratic world everywhere when you stop a megalomaniacal dictator like Putin. Otherwise, NATO would have to do it, and that means American deaths, among others. Better to finance Ukraine’s war efforts. This why Republican opposition to aiding Ukraine makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is deeply short-sighted and extremely unpatriotic.

    I’d go further in helping Ukraine, giving them more of everything they need, inclding longer-range missiles and modern jet fighters as well as modern tanks, artillery, and communication systems. If Ukraine is the Army of Democracy, we should support it completely and without hesitation and do it more quickly. I do not mind at all if my tax money is spent this way, and in fact I welcome it.

    The war has also exposed massive corruption in Russia and the ineptitude of its military forces which we once feared, apparently for little reason. And, hopefully, it’s made it much less likely we will cooperate with Russia or permit western investment there. Better to continue to isolate them, I think, and no, I do not care how much that inconveniences the Russian people. Every people get the kind of government they deserve, and so far the Russian people have failed miserably.

24. Everyone loses in a war. War is a tragedy, and it saddens me to think of the families in Ukraine who did not invite this conflict into their world. My dear friends in Kyiv. My old buddy from Eastern Ukraine who I can only assume is dead but went out fighting. But I am also saddened by the impact this has in Russia. These people have no alternative but to be meat in Putin’s grinder.

    I would hope that the benefits we realize are shared by the world overall, and not whether we benefit from energy or weapons sales.

    The world will see that Russia is a paper tiger and not be fearful of their threats and intimidation.

    The last vestiges of Communism will finally be eliminated.

    Peaceful defensive alliances will gain support.

    Strongmen types will realize that they face a unified front when they attempt to attack neighboring countries.

    The world will see the value in non violent resolution of conflicts.

25. We gave Ukraine our word in the 1990’s. We have failed to live up to it but the least we can do is support them. And also in our own naked self interest if we do not draw a line here it will happen in places we actually have greater concerns about primarily Taiwan. So it is in our best interest to stop this from happening. It is the right thing to do, it is in the nations best interest to do it and finally it is backing up our own allies in Europe and benefiting us by them rearming so we don’t have to have as large a presence in the long term and allows us to focus on Asia. So there is a lot of good coming out of this geopolitically.

26. Yes. We’re getting to weaken one of our greatest geopolitical foes at the cost of no American casualties. Other countries will buy American weapons after demonstrating their success on the battlefield. China will be deterred from invading Taiwan after seeing a strong response to the invasion of Ukraine.

27. Hard to imagine how a war is better for us than no war. The expense is enormous, and what do we really get from the fighting and destruction? At best, weak and indirect benefits from having stronger alliances in Europe. But I think it would have been better for everyone in the world, if Russia had not invaded.

    Now does America benefit from Ukraine staying sovereign as opposed to being controlled by Russia? Again, indirectly, somewhat. But probably not enough to justify the expense.

    I fully support Ukraine and the US support for it. I think it’s the right thing to do. But I don’t think there is any sense in which we profit from it.

28. This isn’t the first time the U.S. has given aid and support to a European country fighting an obnoxious neighbor whom the world in general is better off without.