It seems ironic that the Russian invasion of Georgia takes place and the West — particularly the United States — is helpless to do much about it. This is for several reasons:

1. The United States military is weakened by its commitments of warfare and nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan. This lessens the ability of diplomats to speak from a position of greater power, as the U.S. could prior to these wars. Isn’t this weakness what many of the retired generals warned us about?

2. Because of the pre-emtive invasion of Iraq in 2003, the United States is no longer in a position to cry foul when one nation displays unprovoked aggression against another. In the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the U.S. responded to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. President George H.W. Bush’s said: “This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.” With Russia and Georgia, that diplomatic response is off the table.

3. Of course, the most obvious reason is Russia’s power. It is not the former Soviet Union, but to be sure it is a dominant force among countries. Russia exerts its political hegemony over its neighbors and yearns for expansion over its former territories such as Georgia, especially the ones — such as Georgia and Ukraine — that seek to align politically with the West.

All that said, even though the U.S. isn’t in a strong position to act, other European nations indeed bear great responsibility to act. But like with the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, they hem and haw and do little until the United States commits. Western Europe needs to stand up to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The invasion of Georgia is a sign that bringing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO is a good step.

Moreover, Western Europe needs to police the rest of Europe and do more to maintain peace and stability, much like the United States does in the Americas.