'Stand up to bullies'

John Hewko, left, CEO of Rotary International, Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and Steve Edwards, right.

     The first 89 minutes of the dialogue Monday night about the situation in Ukraine was compelling. Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, who has just returned from that war-torn country, talking for an hour and a half with John Hewko, CEO of Rotary International, at Rotary's headquarters in Evanston, moderated by former WBEZ host, Steve Edwards.

      The general tone was optimistic, despite 432 days having passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, with no end in sight.

      "Vladimir Putin has already lost the war," Daalder said. "He never had a chance because the Ukrainian people never gave him a chance."

     With a big assist from the United States, both in intelligence and some $40 billion in weaponry. Sometimes we get things right.

      Interesting, but not something I'd rush to share here. Then, with a minute left, Hewko — who I wrote about a year ago — asked the key question. Americans often tune this sort of thing out, particularly as it drags. We get bored. So, he wondered, what's the "elevator pitch" — the brief argument for why we're persisting, why we're continuing to invest our time and money and reputation in this war. Why we need to stick with this.

     Daalder's response is worth sharing:

     "We have a tendency in the United States to listen to the loudest voices, who usually are wrong," he began."But in this case the majority of Americans are right. Why do they believe that? The argument is twofold: one, it's a principle. Understanding that if you start to live in a world in which bullies can get away with bullying, in this case using military force to change borders, and to say 'What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine.' We understand that's not a good world for us to live in. 

     "And then secondly when people decide to stand up to bullies, we should be with those people. People understand that at a very core level. That when missiles are raining down and destroying apartment buildings, that cities are being bombed, that 13 million people out of 40 million are on the move because of a war, we should be with them. We can do that in little ways, by financial support, by providing other humanitarian ways, and Rotary is based on the concept that a lot of little things come out to a very big thing. Or make sure your representative votes the right way in Congress on these issues. At its core, you don't want to live in a world in which  the bullies get their way. You don't want to live in a world where guy just because he has the capacity decides to take what's not his want to live in a world where people stand up against that. You can talk about larger issues, security of Ukraine, security of Europe, but at its core, it's about how we should behave in the world."

    That makes a lot of sense to me. And to most Americans. Something we should be proud of, in an era when Americans could use something to feel good about. We've done the right thing, so far. Now all we have to do is keep on doing it.