Russia’s war on Ukraine has not only devastated that country but it has also changed the world. Former Assistant Secretary of State John Hillen documents eight ways the war has changed the world. Here are a few of them.

First, it is likely China may be discouraged rather than encouraged with its own territorial ambitions. Russia was likely surprised at both the military resistance of Ukraine and the unprecedented level of sanctions placed on it. China is taking note.

Second, we could be witnessing the death-throes of a superpower. Russia has been declining in many areas, invading Ukraine made their problems worse.

Third, aggressor states are once again seeing the advantage of being in the nuclear club. NATO is only willing to “help-from-a-distance” rather than directly confront Russia. Serbia, Iraq, and Afghanistan were not nuclear powers and thus were attacked by the US and European powers.

Fourth, he says it is “time to go back to deterrence school.” One problem was this administration’s willingness to articulate what it would not do in Ukraine before and during the Russian invasion. A limited deterrence failed to deter aggression.

Finally, it is time to “dust off your Samuel Huntington.” The Harvard professor wrote a book I often quote: The Clash of Civilizations. Free institutions that arose from Western civilization and Judeo-Christian values are shrinking. China, Russia, Islamists and others offer an alternative system for political, economic, and social order. We need to stop being so naïve about what is happening in the world around us.

Not only has the war in Ukraine been devastating to the country and its people, but this conflict is also changing the world around us. We need to pay attention.