Why we should care about the fate of Ukraine

(JNS) — It’s difficult to know where exactly the crisis over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine will end. Yet no matter whether Russian President Vladimir Putin seizes more of the former Soviet satellite nation, conquers it entirely or winds up leaving it alone, the shock to the international system that his threats have caused isn’t limited to the future of Eastern Europe.

That’s not easy for many Americans to comprehend.

The reaction to the possibility of a country whose independence was guaranteed less than 30 years ago by both the United States and Russia being invaded or destroyed is...