Supporting Ukraine Is a Good Deal for America

The United States is a global power that advances its interests in a world that desires to be free, open, prosperous and secure. Following the recent horrific attacks on Israel, we immediately moved to help, as we should. We are also continuing to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, and are preparing and positioning to support Taiwan against looming Chinese aggression. America can and should do these things, while protecting its own borders at the same time. 

But, even if we care nothing for global leadership that confronts violence against innocents and we focus only on what is best for us, supporting Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan are good deals for America.

Why? Bluntly put, it is much cheaper for the American taxpayer to support others fighting, weakening and defeating those who threaten us than fighting them ourselves. Supporting nations like Ukraine benefits us strategically, operationally and economically, and we don’t have to die doing it.

Strategically, the U.S. will be better off when Ukraine beats Russia. Supporting Ukraine’s victory also could begin to redeem American credibility as a reliable, steadfast partner in the wake of the disastrous 2021 troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Contemplating U.S. withdrawal of support from Ukraine, Hal Brands best characterized the lesson China and others would take away:  “Countries that hope the U.S. will fight to defend them against Chinese aggression will have to consider the fact that Washington won’t even help another country defend itself against the far weaker Russia. … Politically speaking, it is very hard to conjure a scenario in which the U.S. cannot muster the commitment to help Ukraine survive a real war and then somehow shifts into overdrive to prepare for a hypothetical one.”

Operationally, we benefit from Russia’s diminishing military capability as we learn about both our own and Russia’s vulnerabilities. Numerous sources cited and summarized by the Congressional Research Service and others reported problems in training, tactics, equipment, coordination, command and control and logistics that resulted in early Russian losses and attrition of both personnel and equipment. In May, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency estimated that it could take five to 10 years for the Russian military to rebuild its conventional forces, seriously impacting Russia’s ability to conduct operations in Ukraine or anywhere else for years to come. 

With a threat from Russia gone or greatly diminished, some of the billions of dollars the U.S. spends annually on the European Deterrence Initiative could be invested in other priority areas, furthering the return on investment we are making in Ukraine’s fight.

Assisting Ukraine also has helped us identify and begin to fix new and existing vulnerabilities. For example, U.S. munitions production and stockpiles have been a concern for decades. The conflict in Ukraine has offered key lessons in this area, leading the Department of Defense (DOD) to request and obtain multi-year procurement authorities for specific munitions and to refocus on surge capabilities.

In addition, Russia’s performance in combat conditions — the ultimate military intelligence source — has allowed us to use Ukraine as a real-world laboratory in preparing for other potential contingencies. Discussing its recently released cyber strategy, the DOD noted that it is learning from the way that Russia employs cyber capabilities to support kinetic operations and how it uses global propaganda campaigns and cyber attacks to disrupt Ukrainian military logistics, damage civilian infrastructure and harm Ukrainian politics. As noted in this year’s defense authorization measures, the U.S. is also learning more about tactics to counter unmanned systems, the use and proliferation of small drones, and the threat from adversarial electronic warfare systems.

Economically, the return on investment from Ukraine aid shows a bang for the buck that is measured in increased U.S. security, industrial base contracts and jobs, and significantly reduced adversary capability. For context, the total fiscal year 2022/23 U.S. defense budget was just over $1.6 trillion. During that same time, the defense portion of U.S. aid to Ukraine was just over $44 billion, or about 2.7% of defense spending. Multiple supplemental appropriations added about $11.6 billion for personnel and operations supporting Ukraine, a number that would be a drop in the bucket if U.S. forces had to engage in combat.  

At the same time, Russia is estimated to be spending more than 37% of its budget on the war in Ukraine. While they bleed cash and capability, we devote single-digit percentages of the defense budget toward avoiding such costs.

Though the rhetoric from the White House and Secretary of Defense of “what it takes, for as long as it takes” may sound like a selfless and steady commitment, it is not the right approach. America should be providing Ukraine what they need now to win quickly, if for no other reason than it is the best deal for us.

Elaine McCusker is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. She is a former acting under secretary of defense (comptroller).