Should US help ukraine

Paper details: The assignment: Lesson 9 Class Discussion Assignment
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For this discussion assignment you will be required to make at least two posts: one initial post and one reply post. Both posts must be made by the assignment due date.

Make your initial post by addressing each of the assigned questions below after reading about the discussion topic. See how to make your reply post in the instructions below.

Discussion Topic:

The topic for this discussion assignment is related to U.S. foreign policy, which you will be learning more about in the next lesson. One of the key questions about U.S. foreign policy is what the role of the United States should be around the world given that the U.S. is the most powerful country and the leading proponent of democracy and human rights. Russia, under the control of authoritarian president Vladimir Putin, invaded the sovereign country of Ukraine on Feb. 20, 2022. Putin is an ex-KGB spy of the Soviet Union who later became president of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Empire before its collapse. After the collapse it gained its independence along with several other countries along Russia’s western border, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus. Putin has said the greatest tragedy for Russia was the breakup of the Soviet Union. He has pledged to restore Russia to greatness and to reassert its influence in Eastern Europe. Ukraine revolted against its Russian-controlled leader in 2014, who was preventing Ukraine from becoming more closely aligned with the European Union to provide more prosperity and better opportunities for its citizens. Putin has said he does not believe Ukraine is a legitimate country and is seeking to make it part of Russia by force. The United States, along with its European Allies, is providing Ukraine with billions of dollars in foreign aid to help Ukraine fight the bigger, more powerful Russian army. Not everyone in the United States believes the U.S. should be spending so much money to help Ukraine in its fight for freedom from Russian domination. View the two videos below of a debate that occurred in the U.S. Senate about whether a $40 billion aid bill to Ukraine should pass. The bill had already passed in the House of Representatives but needed to pass the Senate to become law. A map of Europe is provided below to help put the geography into perspective. All the blue-ish colored countries are U.S. allies and part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is a mutual defense treaty. It began during the Cold War to prevent the Soviet Union from extending its control of Europe. Many countries in central and eastern Europe that were once under the domination of the Soviet Union are now NATO members. Finland and Sweden recently announced they also will be joining NATO. The two videos are about 10 minutes in length combined. After viewing the videos, make your initial discussion post by responding to each of the assigned questions below.

NATO Enlargement Map

Assigned Questions to Address in Your Initial Post:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell supports providing Ukraine with the $40 billion assistance to help in its war with Russia, while Senator Rand Paul is not for the reasons he gives in his speech. Both Senator McConnell and Senator Paul argue that their opposing positions are in the national security interests of the United States. So, the question to be answered is: Is helping Ukraine in the United States’ national security interests or not? Do you tend to support the $40 billion of assistance to Ukraine or not? Why or why not?
Senator McConnell in his speech on the Senate floor said, “America cannot wish away global problems that affect us and our allies by simply burying our heads in the sand.” In this statement, McConnell raises another important question with respect to America’s role in the world. Do you believe, in general, the United States, as the world’s richest and most powerful country, has a responsibility to be a global leader in addressing global problems to prevent unjustified wars, human rights abuses, violations of international law, etc.? Why or why not?
Senator Rand Paul in his speech said that one of the reasons he was against providing the $40 billion of assistance to Ukraine is because it will add to the already high national debt and the U.S. would have to borrow the money from China? Research how much of the U.S.’s current $30 trillion national debt is held by China, identify the amount in your response, and explain whether or not you believe Senator Paul is making an accurate statement.
INSTRUCTIONS:

REVIEW THE RUBRIC FOR DETAILS ABOUT HOW THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL BE GRADED BY CLICKING ON THE BOX WITH THE THREE DOTS IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER.
Your discussion posts must meet ALL the “Criteria” in each grading category of the rubric to avoid losing points.
Make your initial post. It must address ALL of the assigned questions and must be at least 250 words in length. Opinions given must be supported using well-reasoned arguments or evidence. Note: the word count of your post will be displayed on the right below your editor screen as you type or copy and paste your post.
View the attached “Sample Initial Post Format” below to see how your initial post should look.
After making your initial post, read through the initial posts of your classmates and find someone’s views you disagree with to critique in your reply post (you may need to wait until enough posts are made).
Reply to their initial post with your critique of at least 100 words. Your critique can take several forms: questioning their central argument, ideas, logic, facts, evidence or conclusions. It is okay if it addresses only the part(s) of their initial post that you disagree with.
Any plagiarized information (copied from the internet or elsewhere) will result in a grade of zero on the assignment.
The value of this assignment is in exposing you to different points of view and in enhancing your critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate ideas along with the evidence and assumptions behind them. This type of intellectual engagemeaqwnt can be a valuable learning experience.