These are complex conflicts, but there is a simple theme. The world is organizing along two lines—an alliance of democracies on one, and a gang of expansionist authoritarian powers on another. The authoritarian class—China, Russia, Iran, North Korea—is currently in the process of trying to destroy two Western-aligned nations: Israel and Ukraine. Those two democratic allies of ours, in turn, are keeping the wolves at bay with unsteady support from the U.S. and European powers, some of whom have begun pulling military support from Israel while it is under attack from the authoritarian axis from at least six directions.

Meanwhile in the U.S., neither presidential candidate is terribly enthusiastic about supporting both our allies under fire. We are splitting our own coalition over politics.

The world order isn’t constructed along artificial Red Team-Blue Team partisan lines, and thank heavens for that. But it would be nice if our politics reflected that reality.