Guest column: What 'Ender’s Game' can teach us about Ukraine

On Dec. 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the U.S. House of Representatives. Clad in a military-green sweatshirt, his feet planted firmly in combat boots, his historical appearance in the chamber was designed to drive home the urgency of his request for more American aid. For almost 30 minutes, he pleaded with American lawmakers to support Ukraine’s plight, framing the struggle between Russia and Ukraine as akin to the fight to push back authoritarian Germany in the second World War.

Zelensky cut a noble figure, proclaiming that the spirit of Ukraine lives on, and will continue to live on. His emotional rhetoric evoked scenes of bullet-ridden trenches, blood-soaked land and candlelit Christmas dinners in bomb shelters. Through it all, Zelensky maintained a posture of pride and dignity. Yet, in the end, he settled for a practical argument, clarifying that “Ukraine never asked the American soldiers to fight on our land instead of us … Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.” Zelensky argued that the military alliance between Russia and Iran should be exceptionally worrying to Americans, saying, “It is just a matter of time when they will strike against your other allies if we do not stop them now.”

Perhaps we Americans can find some guidance in the timeless work of Orson Scott Card’s "Ender’s Game." The story follows a young genius named Ender, who is asked to undergo intense (and ethically questionable) battle simulation training in order to eventually save humankind from the alien race known as the "bugs."

Ender is considered an exceptional military candidate partially because of his unparalleled intellect, but mostly because of his ability to use empathy as a commander. In his personal philosophy that echoes Aquinas’ Principle of the Double Effect, Ender remarks again and again that he only fights because he is provoked, not from joy. He reluctantly chooses to use brutality against his opponents, wanting to win fights thoroughly in order to avoid fighting again. Leaving an opponent weakened only makes them angry; mercy comes through complete victory and the subsequent peace of hierarchical order.

We Americans have been distinctively unmerciful in our approach to Ukraine. We have given them just enough weapons to fight and to dream of victory, yet we have not given them enough aid to succeed in their fight. Instead of either freeing the mouse from the trap or killing it completely, America opted to allow it to remain in the trap, to feed it and prolong its suffering. Why? Did we actually somehow believe that Ukraine could prevail with the pathetic amounts of aid we sent to match against the combined power of Russia and Iran?

In the next stage of the Russian-Iranian conflict, Americans must be clear-eyed about why we are sending aid. This conflict ― this investment ― would be about maintaining American global hegemony over Russia and Iran, sending a message that we do not tolerate bullies nor abandon our allies. We cannot continue pretending that we are not invested in this conflict. Let us either fully aid Ukraine, with the complete understanding that our investment will cost us, or let us abandon our ally to die in peace.

Ender’s story offers us a second warning. After he triumphs over the buggers, he realizes that his enemy was not completely inhumane, and that he should remember them “not as enemies, but as tragic sisters, changed into a foul shape by fate or God or evolution.” We must be merciful to the Russians and Ukranians alike. The unhappy rumblings of the starving Russian proletariat echo even to America. Our economic sanctions have been effective and have led to a prolonged, humiliating suffering. We have acted lightly toward Russia in the hopes that they would bend, or that Ukraine would break, and then we would be able to extricate ourselves from the situation neatly and without remorse.

This has not occurred. Yet, America is stronger than Russia on almost every front. We can pursue the end of this conflict swiftly ― either economically, diplomatically, or (heaven forbid!) militarily. This drawn-out economic torture of the Russians is distinctly unbecoming of Americans. We are playing with our enemy, and the slow humiliation we are inflicting on the Russians will not be soon forgotten. Decisiveness will allow the Russians to withdraw with honor and preserve their people. Ender learns empathy toward his enemies; we should, too.

Increasing hostility is never an easy, simple or joyful conclusion. Yet Russia left Ukraine no choice when it embarked on the brutal land grab. Ukraine has come to our doors, broken and battered, with a moving plea that we cannot answer but in strong, decisive terms. We must answer their call.

Josiah Stephens, a Moore native, is a senior university scholar at Baylor University, where she studies Classics, Political Science and History. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Guest column: What 'Ender’s Game' can teach us about Ukraine