The U.S. House of Representatives got its act together last week and passed legislation that provided $95 billion in military aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the wider Indo-Pacific region.
It was an important moment — some would say “Churchillian” — and House Speaker Mike Johnson and the representatives that voted for the bills deserve applause for doing the right thing. (That sentence says volumes about the state of U.S. politics. Ponder it.)
Big crises such as Ukraine and Israel and big concerns such as Taiwan and the wider Indo-Pacific mark this historic moment. Unfortunately, sadly and tragically, there are other catastrophes that, by virtue of their longevity, their steady devolution and their distance — both geographic and conceptual — from us, have sunk into the background, unable to command attention despite their size and scale. I want to flag three today.
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