Welcome to the Daily Article Podcast. I'm Chris Elkins with the Denison Forum narrating today's article, written by Dr. Jim Denison.

NATO's chief stated yesterday that the Western Military Alliance will send a written proposal to Moscow later this week to try to find a way forward

amid growing tensions over Russia's troop build up on Ukraine's border. He added that there is still a

diplomatic way out of the growing crisis, but some NATO-membered countries are already putting forces on

standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe.

The second largest nation on the European continent after Russia, Ukraine is roughly the size of Texas.

It is surrounded by the Black Sea to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland to the northwest, and Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova to the west.

The territory has been ruled by various powers across its history, including Poland, Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire, and the

Zardom of Russia. After World War II, the entire country became part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine

gained its independence in 1991 after the dissolution of the USSR. I have never been to Ukraine and don't know anybody who has.

The country is the second poorest in Europe and is only our 67th largest trading partner.

According to the Department of Commerce, U.S. exports to Ukraine support only an estimated 5,000 jobs.

Why then should the U.S. care what happens there?

I'm old enough to remember the Vietnam War.

Many Americans still do not understand why we defended a small nation on the other side of the world at the cost of more

than 58,000 American lives. The U.S. has put 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment to

Europe amid this crisis. What if one of them was your child or grandchild? At a press conference early this month, President Joe Biden stated that a Russian invasion of Ukraine

would be the most consequential thing that has happened in the world in terms of war and peace since World War II.

Analysts list these reasons why the U.S. should be concerned.

First, an invasion could affect the global order.

If Russia is allowed to invade, occupy, and annex its neighbor,

that's an inherently very unstable international system which will affect America's security and its prosperity,

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