It's essential for the U.S. and Europe to prevent Putin from

The words of George Packer ring like a warning bell in an age of shadow and deceit. When he said, “It’s essential for the U.S. and Europe to prevent Putin from going farther and reversing the hard-won independence of former Soviet republics,” he spoke not merely of politics, but of the eternal struggle between freedom and domination, between those who would build their nations upon consent, and those who would rebuild empires upon fear. His voice echoes with the wisdom of history—that liberty, once seized from tyranny, must be guarded like a sacred flame, for the cold winds of power will always seek to extinguish it.

To understand the depth of this truth, one must recall the long winter of Soviet rule, when the nations of Eastern Europe and Central Asia were bound beneath a vast and unyielding empire. For decades, their tongues, their faiths, their dreams were muffled under the heavy boots of control. But then came the breaking—when walls fell and nations rose, when Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, and others reclaimed their names, their flags, and their voices. Their freedom was hard-won, not gifted. It came through protest, through perseverance, through the unbreakable belief that the soul of a people cannot be imprisoned forever.

Packer’s warning speaks of a new danger: that one man, Vladimir Putin, would turn back the wheel of time, seeking to restore what history had rightly undone. To “go farther,” as Packer says, means not just the taking of land, but the taking of spirit. It means rewriting the story of independence into a tale of submission. To “reverse independence” is to reverse the very course of civilization, to undo the sacred victories of those who bled for self-rule. The world, Packer reminds us, cannot stand idle when the freedom of nations trembles once again under the shadow of conquest.

There is a story, real and raw, that captures this struggle. In Kyiv, in the bitter winter of 2014, the people gathered in Maidan Square—young and old, men and women, standing beneath the falling snow. They carried not weapons, but songs. They stood for the right to choose their own destiny, to align with Europe rather than return to the chains of Moscow’s grip. Many were beaten. Some were slain. Yet they stood, unyielding. Their courage became a fire that burned across the world’s conscience. It was proof that independence is not a line on a map; it is the beating heart of a people who refuse to kneel.

In the style of the ancients, we say: empires rise like storms, but freedom endures like the sun. The storm may rage, it may darken the skies, it may drown the land in fear—but when it passes, the light remains. Packer’s words are a call to the guardians of that light—to the United States, to Europe, to all who claim to value liberty—to act not out of pride or vengeance, but out of duty. For when freedom is threatened anywhere, it falters everywhere. The peace of nations is a fragile web; to let one thread be torn is to risk the unraveling of all.

Yet this lesson reaches beyond nations. It speaks to the soul of every person who cherishes what is right and just. The struggle against tyranny, whether in the halls of power or in the chambers of the heart, is the same struggle. We must learn from history: that evil grows in silence, and that those who look away when others are oppressed, soon find oppression at their own door. Just as Europe once slumbered while the shadows gathered before the Second World War, so too must we not repeat the error of waiting until darkness overtakes the dawn.

Therefore, let this teaching be written in the hearts of all who hear: Freedom must be defended daily, with vigilance, unity, and courage. Do not grow weary, thinking the work of liberty is complete. Remember those who stood in Maidan, those who fell in Georgia, those who still fight in Ukraine. Honor them by standing firm against injustice, wherever it rises. Speak truth against lies. Support those who resist oppression. Protect the sovereignty of nations as you would protect your own breath.

For if we fail to defend the hard-won independence of others, we betray the very spirit that once gave us ours. The flame of freedom, once extinguished, does not easily return. So tend it. Guard it. And let future generations say of us, as we now say of those who came before: they did not look away when the darkness rose—they stood their ground, and the light endured.