COMMENT | Twenty years ago, the well-known expert on globalisation, Thomas Friedman, predicted that in the modern world, no two countries with the fast-food chain McDonald’s could ever go to war.

He asserted that no two countries with a substantial middle class and sufficient standard of living, and collaborative and beneficial economic relationships with their neighbours and economic and diplomatic partners, would ever seed all their gains through pointless war.

That theory held for over two decades – until now. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unlawful, unprovoked, and brutal war in Ukraine shows that some leaders can choose self-defeating war over the luxuries of peace, causing death, destruction, humanitarian crises, and immiseration.

Through the Kremlin’s unjustified and unprovoked war against a peaceful nation with a democratically elected leadership, Putin has committed an assault on the principles that uphold global peace and democracy. But the people of Ukraine are resilient.

They’ve had a democracy for decades, and their bravery is inspiring the world. The United States, together with our allies and partners across the globe, will continue to support...