The war in Ukraine should have shattered many illusions about how the world works.
The lessons are both alarming and reassuring — if we pay attention. Failure to recognize the war’s relevance to our lives, even though it is being fought half a world away, will ensure that there are more such conflicts and even greater suffering, loss and instability.
The Ukraine war is, by almost every measure, the largest interstate conflict since the Korean War. Senior U.S. officials estimate that there have been about 200,000 military casualties — 100,000 on each side — a sum that well outpaces official figures. That’s more deaths than the Soviets suffered during the decade-long invasion of Afghanistan. The U.S. lost 7,000 troops in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. In addition, the Ukrainian government reports that there have been nearly 17,000 civilian casualties: over 6,500 killed and 10,000 wounded.