Irish Examiner view: Possible Ukraine invasion the greatest threat since Cold War

The US is not asleep, but neither is it fully awake to the consequences of an invasion

A convoy of Russian armoured vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Russia has concentrated an estimated 100,000 troops with tanks and other heavy weapons near Ukraine. Picture: AP

When John F Kennedy was in his senior year at Harvard university, he wrote a thesis called ‘Why England Slept’, which was later published in book form. Its title is an allusion to Winston Churchill’s 1938 book, While England Slept, which examined the buildup of German power and Nazi aggression.

Kennedy’s book examines the failures of the British government to take steps to prevent the Second World War and its initial lack of response to Adolf Hitler’s threats of war. If there is a copy of either of those books in the White House, it would do well for President Joe Biden to read it and learn that appeasement is not the path to peace.