Speaking to the Press recently, President Joe Biden made his case why the House of Representatives should pass the Bipartisan Supplemental Agreement providing, amongst other things, urgent funding for Ukraine.

‘If we don’t stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he won’t limit himself just to Ukraine and the costs for America and our allies and partners is going to rise.’

Why aren’t Americans buying into this narrative?

One reason the bill may not pass in the House is that it has been stitched together with solutions to resolve the border crisis. The border crisis issue cannot be resolved in the near future unless the House of Representatives passes the bill, but the House of Representatives are unlikely to do so because it does not address all their concerns about migrants and because the migrant issue is a sure-fire vote winner for the Republicans. They do not want the migrant issue to go away – until Trump wins the Presidency.

It is understandable why Washington may not pass the bill, but why do the American people seem sceptical of the idea that Putin needs to be shown he has gone too far? Possibly because they no longer accept Biden’s narrative that America must show her allies she can be trusted and that America stands up for freedom. Perhaps this kind of idealistic talk no longer washes with an America weary of its role as the world’s policeman.

And then there is us.

Australia has become accustomed to the United States playing the role of global law enforcement. This is exactly what we want the United States to do, as do many other countries, such as members of Nato. Finland, understandably, given its history and geographical proximity to Russia, is particularly concerned about an aggressive Russian foreign policy. In December 2022, the then Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, came out to Australia. She gave an address at the Lowy Institute, encouraging Australia to play a greater role in helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

‘We must step up our efforts to make Russia’s leadership realise it has only to lose from its war – and lose it will.

‘Here I would like to highlight Australia’s strong and clear leadership and its important concrete contributions to helping Ukraine and putting pressure against Russia with sanctions. We are together, shoulder-to-shoulder, working to make sure that Russia loses its war. Your role is highly valued in Europe and certainly most of all in Ukraine.’

‘…our strong and clear leadership.’ It seemed oddly flattering at the time, but is worth remembering now.

Does the Albanese government believe Putin will not stop at Ukraine, and intends to rebuild the Russian empire of old, including the Baltic countries and Poland? Or does the Albanese government, by giving money to Ukraine, simply want a means to show further loyalty to their ally the United States? The latter is especially pertinent right now given the cracks appearing in their support for Israel’s continued assaults on Gaza in retribution for the Hamas attacks on October 7 of last year. If it is the latter then what does the government think is the reason for Putin’s fixation with Ukraine? If it’s a case of not knowing, then it is time the government started to make up its mind.

Last century Australia went to war twice over conflicts in Europe. Ordinarily, this might be enough of a warning but further cause for concern is evident in our new geopolitical circumstances resulting from the rise of a strong China. William Burns, director of the CIA, writing recently in Foreign Affairs believes:

‘One of the surest ways to rekindle Chinese perceptions of American fecklessness and stoke Chinese aggressiveness would be to abandon support for Ukraine.’

There is too much media conjecture that a lesson for Russia is a lesson for China for it not to be construed if, one day, worse came to worse, as true. That’s how history will be written. Given the potential then for lines in the sand to be drawn the Albanese government should set about drawing them with more conviction. In recognition of the upcoming second anniversary of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the Australian government announced $50 million to be given to Ukraine to buy more weapons. This takes the total of Australian military aid for Ukraine to $780 million. It’s not much of a message.

But as Biden said: ‘History is watching. History is watching.’

And when history is watching, ordinary people, even those a long way away, should sit up and pay attention.