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Russia’s domination of Ukraine would adversely transform the European balance of power, imperiling the independence of Russia’s neighbors in the region, including democratic Eastern European allies that President Ronald Reagan liberated from Soviet tyranny. Collectively, the United States and our NATO allies have a vast preponderance of resources to stop a corrupt, demographically declining Russian regime in its tracks, averting a moral as well as geopolitical catastrophe. No people have suffered more from Russian oppression in various configurations than those of Ukraine.

This should entail Trump’s reaffirming unequivocally our commitment to honor Article 5 of NATO, which obliges us to defend all its members against Russian attack. This requires Trump to reverse Obama’s dishonorable and unwise decision to cancel the deployment of missile defense in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

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This also calls for Trump to cease denigrating NATO, which — for all its flaws — remains vital for keeping the United States in Europe, keeping the Russians out, and ensuring a democratic Germany decent to its people and neighbors. Although Trump should also press our Western European allies to stop shirking their responsibilities to pay more for their own defense and to confront rather than appease radical Islam, our unshakable resolve to act as Europe’s default power is a small price to pay for the benefits.

Trump’s reassertion of American power and resolve at the G-20 summit would reap huge dividends domestically, too. The president would vindicate the integrity of America’s political institutions, along with his own. His legion of domestic critics could not legitimately argue with that outcome. Nor would our allies.

Robert G. Kaufman is a professor at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and author of “Dangerous Doctrine: How Obama’s Grand Strategy Weakened America.”[lz_pagination]