Keynote Address: Fighting for Hope: Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Future of World Order - Kindschi Symposium on Faith & Justice at Houghton University

Monday, March 4, 7:30pm, Schaller Hall, Paine 214

Keynote Address: Paul Miller (Professor of the Practice and Co-Chair for Global Politics and Security, Georgetown University), “Fighting for Hope: Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Future of World Order”

The story of the war in Afghanistan was the story of our losing hope. Pessimism about what could be achieved became a self-fulfilling prophesy that ended in catastrophe. Afghanistan is a cautionary tale and a reminder of a perennial truth in statecraft: hope is not a strategy, but neither are hopeless plans. Statecraft must hold up a vision of peace and justice to guide war and diplomacy. Two years later, the war in Ukraine is settling into a grinding stalemate. Some in Europe and the United States are losing hope. We must remember what is at stake and why the war in Ukraine is important—not just for Ukrainians, but for the free world. Policymakers need to articulate a hopeful vision of a free world order—not as a substitute for strategy, but as a vital component of it. That hopeful vision is what makes war just: War is just if and when it serves to protect or restore ordered liberty among sovereign, co-equal nations. Finally, we must remember that vision is not achieved only by war. As Lincoln reminded us, the end of a war is only the beginning of the work to bind up a nation’s wounds. A truly hopeful vision will carry us through to victory—and then, after victory, through the long hard work of rebuilding.

*Around the Table Credit