Some of those interested in abandoning Ukraine to Russian conquest have recently advanced an argument supposedly based on strategic realism. The U.S. cannot provide Ukraine with the arms it needs for self-defense, they say, because to do so would make it impossible to meet our allegedly much more important need to defend Taiwan from Chinese invasion.
For example, writing in National Review on Nov. 17, Austin Dahmer says “Washington faces a choice: It can continue arming Ukraine at the present rate, or it can forestall the manifest danger of Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. We cannot do both because resources are limited. Politically and strategically, conservatives are right to prioritize China over Russia.”
This argument has no rational foundation.
In the first place, the primary instrument for the defense of Taiwan is the U.S. Pacific Fleet. So long as we maintain naval control over the Taiwan Strait, no Chinese invasion of Taiwan can occur. However, should we choose not to engage our fleet, Taiwan would be quickly overrun, as it has no strategic depth, and is outnumbered by China 20 to one in armed forces and more than 50 to one in population. Cutting off our limited shipments of second-string ground warfare weapons to Ukraine would in no way rectify that situation.
