October 7 and the Israeli war must be seen in the context of the global war that we are now in.  As a red-letter date, October 7 should be paired with February 24, the date in 2022 when Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine, to attack Kyiv directly, topple its government, murder its leadership, and absorb the sovereign nation of Ukraine into Russia by force. 

Americans must wake up to the world conflict that is now underway, and ask ourselves what must be done to ensure our own survival.  So far the U.S. has followed a strategy of "deterrence" to prevent invasion and aggression from starting in. the first place.  That strategy has failed in both Europe and the Middle East and may fail any day in the Pacific as China threatens the democratic island of Taiwan.  

Americans address crises piecemeal, one crisis at a time, without looking at the big picture.  These war cannot be viewed in isolation one from another.  They are together initiatives to change the world order away from Western values to a 21st century governed by aggression, conquest, murder, and atrocity.  

China, Russia, and Iran seek to build a world order based upon the "knock on the door in the middle of the night" to be hauled off to a celler for torture and execution.   Only decisive American resolve together with our allies prevent tyranny from coming into being across the world. 

Americans must come to understand that the target of these aggressions is not just Israel and Ukraine, or even just Europe.  The target is the country that holds Western civilization together:  The United States of America.  President Biden is frightened and intimidated, and his foreign policy has ended up being "toolittle, too late.".  But all is not lost.  These are still early days in the global conflict.  Putin and Russia cannot sustain their war much longer.  Russia's economy is a shambles, and Western sanctions are biting.  The October 7 anniversary should remind us who started the Middle East conflict. So far, China has not yet started a war in the Pacific but it is watching closely the American response in Ukraine.

What the aggressors cannot win on the battlefield they seek to win at the bargaining table.   President Biden's call for a cease-fire in Gaza promises to leave Hamas in place to conduct further aggression and murder against Israel and threatens Jewish people worldwide.  Putin is happy to negotiate Ukranian surrender, with any negotiation recognizing "realities on the ground" in Ukraine.  There can certainly be a negotiation in Ukraine.  Russia must agree to withdraw from Ukraine and live up to its commitments under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 in which Russia guaranteed, together with the U.S. and the 

U.K. the security of Ukraine. Russia must turn over its fascist leadership for trial for war crimes and pay to restore Ukraine to its condition before the Russian aggression  Then we can have a negotiation to secure a lasting peace in Europe.  

While the strategy of deterrence is no longer enough, it still has a role to play in preventing a wider world war. The deterrence strategy must be coupled with decisive and believable American leadership.  The United States must display resolve to protect our national interest and our resolve to preserve a world based on freedom, democracy, and human rights.  America must show that it is ready to confront the world crisis and prepare our country for the war we are already in.   The strength of American leadershipis our last hope for a decent 21st century in which a future generation of Americans can live, grow, andendure in peace and freedom.

It's not too late, but time is of the essence.      

Ambassador James S. “Jim” Gilmore III was the 68th Governor of Virginia, former Attorney General

 of Virginia, and served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

 Europe.