Ukraine (thread 1), Episode 9: Seward vs. Empires: The 19th-Century Lens on Ukraine

William Henry Seward would interpret the Russia–Ukraine war as a struggle between an aging imperial order and the rising force of popular sovereignty, with republicanism, commerce, and mass political participation dissolving dynastic power.

From that view he’d back Ukraine both morally — as a people’s right to self-government — and strategically — to prevent unchecked imperial expansion that would destabilize the international order and U.S. interests.