Kentucky Senator Rand Paul made his position on the Russo-Ukrainian conflict clear at the “Up from Chaos” foreign policy conference in Washington, D.C.
The United States should stay out.
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft observed that Paul’s speech made him stand out as a “constitutional restrainer.”
Paul made it clear that he is no Putin cheerleader. He believed that the Russia government’s actions were “wrong and unjustified.” However, as Vlahos observed, the Kentucky Senator stressed that “military escalation or regime change policies — or even sanctions with no defined goals” are not the right course of action.
“If you say you don’t want to get involved in this war … people immediately think you’re on the other side, that you’re sympathetic with the other side,” he said at the conference. “I have not sympathized with Putin, what he has done is not justified. But that doesn’t mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater and throw out our principle beliefs.”
“We can make it worse for the Ukrainian people with escalation and intervention” Paul added. “Almost all war ends in negotiation.“It doesn’t justify [Putin’s] aggression, but I do think we need to find off ramps and exits even for our enemies.”
This event had an interesting roster of speakers. Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, US Senate candidate J.D. Vance, North Carolina Congressman Dan Bishop, and The Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway. The conference was organized by American Moment and The American Conservative and was centered on foreign policy restraint.
Paul expressed skepticism towards the US government’s over-reliance on sanctions against its geopolitical foes.
“I don’t think we should never use the threat of sanctions … but…we have hundreds on Russia and China and no one has an idea of how to lift them; they end up having no value at all,” Paul stated.
Foreign policy interventionism, whether its direct military actions, covert operations, and sanctions don’t make the world safe. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is deplorable, it’s at least taking place within its traditional sphere of influence, unlike the US’s recent actions, which have taken place far away in areas with little strategic value.
Paul represents the sanest aspect of Republican Party foreign policy. Unfortunately, he’s a lone voice of reason in the GOP. If the GOP were serious about becoming a dominant force in American politics, it needs to focus on actual national defense i.e. border security and stop focusing on getting involved in far-off lands.
The responsibility of the American government is to protect the American people, not save other people abroad.
