December 16, 2025
Can the Global Order Be Saved? Not Without Punishing Russia
This article was originally published in INKSTICK.
In recent weeks, the United States has spearheaded a new flurry of diplomacy aimed at reaching a settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war. While it remains unclear whether a peace agreement will materialize, it has become more and more evident that Washington is willing to sell out Kyiv at any cost to get a deal done quickly — even as Russian President Vladimir Putin jeopardizes the global order.
Rushing to strike a quick deal is a critical mistake. With Moscow refusing to entertain a deal on anything other than its own terms, the conditions for reaching a just settlement remain absent. Forcing Kyiv into a lopsided agreement would not only suppress its future sovereignty — it would imperil the broader principles underpinning global order.
The only way to succeed in the urgent task of achieving a just peace settlement is radically reshaping Russia’s calculus.
Since World War II, the norm against territorial conquest — enshrined as international law in the 1945 United Nations Charter — has become remarkably widespread. While interstate war has not disappeared, it has declined dramatically, as its legitimacy as a tool of dispute resolution has evaporated. Evidence of this norm is visible in the language Vladimir Putin uses to camouflage Russia’s war of aggression as a “special military operation” taken in alleged self-defense.
Yet the prohibition on force is in grave danger. Russia has yet to be truly punished for its aggression. Meanwhile, unilateral military action and threats of such action have proliferated globally, coming from countries including the United States, Israel, and more. Perhaps assessing that the trend is in Russia’s favor, the Kremlin has even abandoned its rhetorical cover for the invasion, becoming emboldened enough to openly call it a “war.”
Read the full article in INKSTICK.
More from CNAS
-
CNAS Insights | Russia Is Winning the Battle for Influence in Nigeria
Commentary
Across Africa, Russia and its proxies are well known for providing security and extracting wealth. In the Sahel the Wagner Group, and subsequently the Russian Defense Ministry...
By Kate Johnston
-
Transatlantic Tensions in the New National Security Strategy
Podcast
On December 4th, the Trump administration released its long-awaited national security strategy, sending another round of shock waves through the transatlantic community. The N...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Podcast
Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
The Russia-Iran Partnership: A Geopolitical Balancing ActIt has been almost a year since Russia and Iran signed their comprehensive strategic partnership. That deal established a 20-year partnership between the two countries coverin...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Commentary
Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
Look Before We Leap on Artificial IntelligenceThis article was originally published on The Dispatch. A debate about the role that artificial intelligence should and will play in society, and how it will affect humanity fo...
By Jon B. Wolfsthal
