In Germany, a national culture of remembrance – conscious of never repeating the horrors of Nazi militarism – is confronting the imperative of rearmament to support a reassertion of Europe’s core values. As Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine, Germans’ cultural shift offers guideposts to effectively defending Europe’s security – as well as its liberal, democratic traditions.

Earlier this month, the German Parliament voted to add more than 70,000 new troops to its army by 2035. This week, it passed the largest defense appropriation to date, at €50 billion (nearly $60 billion). At this writing, Chancellor Friedrich Merz is seeking to convince other European leaders to exercise a difficult option – using frozen Russian financial assets as collateral for loans to Ukraine’s beleaguered government.

Each of these moves carries risks. Domestically, as a Monitor news article recently reported, there is little appetite for military service among young Germans. Regionally, using the Russian assets – most of which are held by the Belgium-based Euroclear group – could carry monetary and reputational costs. (Russia has just filed a $230 billion lawsuit against Euroclear in Moscow.) And internationally, Europe as a whole is confronting a fraying relationship with the United States.

“Merz well understands the Russian threat to Europe, risks to the transatlantic alliance from Washington, and the economic opportunities [of becoming] a European defense hub,” noted an analyst with the Atlantic Council this summer. “And most importantly, he’s prepared to do something about it.”

This willingness to act underscores the German leader’s view that there is much at stake – and that Western Europe’s largest country (both by population and economic power) needs to step up to the demands. Timidity is not an option.

“Ukraine’s fate is the fate of all Europe,” he said this week, urging European Union members to show they are capable of “standing together and acting to defend our own political order.” (Germany’s military spending will help its neighbors, as more than 90% of it involves purchases from European industry.)

Mr. Merz has also spoken with conviction to German citizens about the rapid military and mindset transformation he believes is needed to counter Russia’s overt and covert threats to regional stability.

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Even as American envoys shuttle between Russian, Ukrainian, and European leaders, Mr. Merz has urged the U.S. president to focus on elements for a lasting peace, which would include holding Russia accountable for the damage and loss from the nearly four-year war.

Germany’s newfound confidence and recognition of its potential for positive impact is reassuring to Ukraine and European allies. But it is also encouraging to its own people – signaling a readiness to move out of the shadow of the past, while still using its lessons to chart a future based on moral clarity and democratic values.

Over the past week, Romania has been rocked by protests against corruption. Like many of its neighbors, the Eastern European nation has seen similar uprisings for more than a decade. This time, however, many protesters have appealed to people’s better angels. They lean toward affirming principles of governance rather than merely opposing evil acts.

One chant favored during the protests, for example, is “Justice, no corruption.” Another is “Integrity, not complicity.” One protest sign reads: “Respect for honest magistrates.”

In the midst of the demonstrations – which focus on a media report that some judges helped officials avoid trials on corruption charges – hundreds of judges and prosecutors signed an open letter. It supports whistleblowers inside the judicial system who, despite threats of punishment, bravely expose wrongdoing.

“Truth and integrity must not be penalised but protected,” the letter stated.

This shift toward an emphasis on higher qualities of thought was made clear in Romania earlier this year. A former anti-corruption activist, Nicuşor Dan, became president in May after winning an election with the slogan “Honest Romania.” Now, in response to the letter, he invited prosecutors and judges to an “open-ended discussion” on judicial reform Dec. 22. (The date is remembered as the anniversary of the end of a dictatorship in 1989.)

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Like many countries still mired in corruption despite reforms in laws and institutions, Romania struggles with defining corruption in many situations or effectively measuring it. In early December, the United Nations held its second global conference on corruption measurement. The effort is more than a technical exercise. “It’s a foundation for building integrity systems that rely on evidence,” said Marcos Neto, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General.

In fact, one of the newer ways of tallying corruption in countries is the Index of Public Integrity. It has been effective in focusing attention on three pillars that help embed trust in government: an independent judiciary, a free press, and digitally empowered citizens. For Romanians protesting on the streets, their selfless appeals to people’s integrity – and similar immeasurable traits – are not simply the inverse of corruption. They are an invitation to participate in a corruption-free life.

Many Americans feel buffeted by a cycle of tit-for-tat political rhetoric, whipsaw policymaking, and norms breaking. A recent poll found that 82% of voters believe the way people talk about politics contributes to violence. Only one-third say it is possible to lower the temperature on political rhetoric.

Yet, in recent weeks, more voices are calling for civic civility. They are based on a mix of political principles as well as moral and religious values. On Dec. 9, for example, two governors – a Democrat and a Republican – clasped hands after modeling respectful political dialogue at the National Cathedral in Washington.

Democrat Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Republican Spencer Cox of Utah both often share how their faith traditions imbue their public service. Speaking to The Washington Post, Mr. Cox noted, “Bridge-building is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It takes ... strong faith and strong courage.”

A couple of days later, a bipartisan group of Indiana state senators voted down a bill that would have redrawn an electoral map to skew the state’s current 7-2 Republican advantage in Congress to 9-0. Several cited an ethical desire to reduce partisanship. “I hope that this is the beginning of the country stepping back from the brink,” said one Republican state senator.

Such a stance fits research that shows how the words and actions of elected officials can cue either positive or negative public sentiment. A Cornell University political scientist who has studied the campaign approach of Mr. Cox – who refuses to demonize opponents – found that it “had a significant [positive] effect” on public views.

Americans look to political leaders for moral clarity, says Governor Shapiro. Elected officials in a few states appear to recognize this, as they decide whether to push redistricting to lock in House wins in 2026 or whether to abide by political norms.

“​​California’s gerrymandering is not fighting back. It’s cheating,” Democrat Patricia Sinay of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission said about the Proposition 50 referendum that passed in November.

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“It’s not all just about getting re-elected,” Kansas state Rep. Brett Fairchild, a Republican, told The New York Times. It’s also about “principle and ... morals and ethics.”

Many Americans might now be seeking deeper values that can guide civic life. In the dialogue series that hosted Mr. Cox and Mr. Shapiro and similar events, for example, the National Cathedral has laid out one approach: “We start with two fundamental ideas,” its website notes. “First, every person is a beloved child of God, regardless of who they vote for. And second, Americans yearn for a better way to be in relationship with one another.” Perhaps the yearning has found its voice.

Within a day after two gunmen killed 15 people during a gathering for the Jewish holiday Hanukkah at Australia’s most famous beach, a very resilient country began to focus on ways to prevent a similar tragedy: Better gun regulations. A warm embrace of Jewish Australians. A sterner check on antisemitism. Tighter surveillance of potential terrorists.

Yet a particular act of selfless heroism during the Dec. 14 mass shooting has offered up one more possible solution.

A video shows Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim shop owner in Sydney, tackling and disarming one of the alleged Bondi Beach shooters, also a Muslim. This bystander, by bursting bravely into action, may have saved countless lives even as he was shot. “God gave me strength,” he reportedly told a cousin from a hospital bed.

His father, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed, perhaps best described the motives of his son, who gained Australian citizenship in 2022 after fleeing conflict in Syria.

“When he did what he did, he wasn’t thinking about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street,” the father told reporters. “He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”

His instinct to save innocent people from harm, regardless of their beliefs or ethnicity, is not strange for someone from Syria, said Lubaba Alhmidi AlKahil, the media director for the Australians for Syria Association, according to The Guardian. “The community is lovely, supportive, with strong bonds.”

“We’ve refused injustice and persecution [in Syria] and it’s not strange that one of us had the feeling: ‘No, I will not watch, I will die to help.’”

While violence has been historically significant in the Middle East, including Syria, it was not the everyday norm for centuries, wrote Josef Meri, a faculty member at Georgetown University, in The New Arab news site earlier this year. 

The Ottoman Empire left a legacy of mutual respect for religious diversity among Jews, Christian, Muslims, and other faiths. “The Quran explicitly states, ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error’ (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:256), emphasising the principle of religious freedom,” wrote the professor, an expert on interfaith relations.

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Mr. al-Ahmed’s actions, along with other heroic acts during the shooting, are now seen as a corrective remedy.

“As we see by how all Australians are reacting, we see it as an attack on Australia and the sort of fundamental values that underpin our society – our multi-faith society of respect, tolerance, diversity, and fundamentally a peaceful and respectful attitude towards one’s fellow citizens,” Sen. Dave Sharma, former ambassador to Israel, said to the Special Broadcasting Service.

Amid weaving vehicles and the fumes and clamor of traffic, residents in Lagos, Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest cities, are discovering something new – a vibrant, visual feast of large-scale public art.

Nigeria has long been a dynamic art hub, teeming with musicians, writers, visual artists, and filmmakers who have achieved international renown. But, when it comes to street art, it has lagged behind the long tradition of such work in other African nations.

The city has just hosted its first Street Art Festival – Legendary Lagos: City of Dreams. The event features 12 artists – nine with Nigerian roots, and three international – who have transformed pollution-blackened walls into concrete canvases.

“We believe art shouldn’t be confined to galleries and museums,” mural painter and festival co-organizer Osa Okunkpulo (who goes by the name Osa Seven) told Reuters. “Public art allows people to interact with creativity in their everyday environment. It’s about giving hope and showing what art can do to shape society.”

This festival comes just one month after the city’s annual Art X fair, an event that has gained prominence among art professionals and the public in the decade since its launch. The Dakar Biennale in Senegal is, similarly, a major cultural touchstone in the region.

Art “feeds our imagination ... makes us dream and think; it teaches and educates,” Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said at the biennale’s 2024 opening. As Africa’s youngest elected leader, he is popular among youth, and has urged them to explore artistic and cultural traditions. Art, he noted, imbues an “extra soul” into citizens’ hopes, “so that they adhere ever better to what we are and aspire to become as a people.”

Across the continent, street art is feeding political and social awareness as well as local pride. “We are beginning to understand the impact of social murals and their influence on our social life and our environment in general,” Lagos muralist Ernest Ibe told a French news agency.

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In Kenya, for example, street artists have taken inspiration from young protesters over the past year – and have championed the demands they’ve voiced for greater freedom and better governance. In Conakry, Guinea, muralists’ work is reviving residents’ pride in their history. It’s “good for Africa, it’s good for this country. ... I like it, and it changed the face of our city,” one young Guinean told The Associated Press in October.

And that’s largely what the Lagos festival is aiming to do – to democratize art and reflect citizens’ joy and exuberance, even amid current-day challenges.

The global tide of popular demand for ethical and transparent governance continues its remarkable rise this year. Bulgaria, ranked among the poorer and most corrupt nations of Europe, is the latest to feel its power.

On Thursday, the morning after tens of thousands of citizens marched through the capital, the Bulgarian prime minister announced he would step down, after less than a year in office.

As in many other countries experiencing mass demonstrations in 2025, Bulgarian citizens are voicing their aspirations for accountability, transparency, and justice. And, as elsewhere, younger voters seeking a future with more opportunities and less graft have harnessed social media and online communication as effective organizing mechanisms.

“One cannot afford not to talk about politics when so many people identify with you,” Andrea Banda Banda, who has nearly 100,000 Instagram followers, told the news outlet Deutsche Welle. “Ideally, it’s much better to read a long analysis,” she said, “but memes are a super quick way to get an idea across.”

It appears the idea did get across, as evidenced by the mass turnout.

The immediate cause of the protests was a government budget plan to raise taxes and social security contributions – which a skeptical citizenry viewed as yet another scheme to channel money into politicians’ pockets. The government is seen to be under the influence of a mafialike circle of corrupt politicians and oligarchs, some of them Russia-aligned. Distrust and political dysfunction have fed into pessimism.

Nearly 75% of young Bulgarians consider emigrating to other countries, according to a survey. But the poll of 14- to 29-year-olds also found that their interest in politics had tripled from only 7% in 2018 to 21% in 2025.

Teenager Martin Atanasov, who participated in the protests, represents this increased engagement. In early December, he received a local “Awakener of the Year” award for creating an interactive map with data from more than 177,000 accidents, pointing to government inaction on road safety.

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“The internal discontent of Gen Z ... is starting to turn into action,” Mr. Atanasov wrote in an article on the Bulgarian site Fakti. The demonstrations do not represent “just denial and anger,” he stated, but “hope ... that the country can break out of the vicious circle of distrust, improvised solutions and political indifference.”

On Jan. 1, Bulgaria joins the Eurozone, adopting the common currency of the European Union. This is likely to jolt the economy, as prices adjust upward. “The road is long and difficult,” as Mr. Atanasov acknowledges. But, he insists, “There is hope. It is up to us to protect it.”

United States Founding Father Thomas Jefferson was a firm believer in “the good sense of the people” when it came to exercising citizenship in a democracy. To promote constructive public engagement, he urged, “give them full information ... thro’ the channel of the public papers.”

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter,” Mr. Jefferson wrote to a friend in 1787.

The third U.S. president could likely not have imagined the huge volume and varied forms of today’s “newspapers” – accessed 24/7,  in print, over the airwaves, and online. However, even as media access has increased exponentially, press freedoms in 2025 are shrinking globally.

News outlets are facing unprecedented political and financial pressures, and journalists are increasingly being silenced or targeted. In its annual December report, the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders lists 503 journalists in detention, 67 killed, and 135 missing over the past year. In most cases, the organization says, governments are responsible, although criminal cartels and rebel groups are also implicated.

Amid this sobering picture, citizens around the world continue to strongly believe in the value and importance of a free press. A Pew Research Center survey of 35 countries reported that 84% of respondents viewed the ability to report news freely as important. (For the U.S. alone, that figure rose to 93%.) Over the past 10 years, the share of respondents defining press freedom as “very” important increased in one-fourth of those countries.

Citizens are also expressing concern over increasing partisanship in the media, reflective of broader political divisions. In the case of the U.S., according to historian Miles Smith, “The founding fathers understood that a free press would often be a messy press.” The system, Professor Smith said on a podcast in July, was designed to present “competing ideas and narratives” to “an educated citizenry capable of self-government.”

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Perceptions of a vibrant press appear to correlate with civilians’ satisfaction with governance. Citizens who think the media in their country can freely report the news rate their democracies positively; those who believe the press is constrained tend to rate their governments and leaders more negatively.

Perhaps Walter Cronkite, the legendary 20th-century American journalist, captured this dynamic most aptly, when he observed: “Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy; it is democracy.”

Civilians around the world daily and easily engage with artificial intelligence, communicating with chatbot “therapists” and “friends” or creating realistic videos with entirely machine-generated content.

Governments, meanwhile, are racing to keep up with the implications of AI – positive and otherwise – for national security and economic competitiveness as well as for citizen freedoms, privacy, and safety. The challenge centers on whether and how much to regulate this rapidly advancing and lucrative sector. And how to do so without eroding the democratic, free-market values of individual and entrepreneurial autonomy.

Australia is now the first country the first country to ban social media use for children under 16. In July, the United Kingdom enacted age verification for accessing pornographic sites. And last year, the European Union passed an AI Act to “foster responsible” development, while addressing “potential risks to citizens’ health, safety, and fundamental rights.”

“Good rules ... help prevent disasters,” policy analyst James Lardner noted in a study of 10 landmark regulations in the United States. They arise “out of crisis and struggle, but also ... out of the momentum of accomplishment,” and can channel market forces “in more positive directions,” he observed.

U.S. governors and state legislatures have been busy trying to design such AI rules: In 2025, all 50 states introduced AI bills and 38 passed roughly 100 laws. These moves far outpaced action in Washington, where the House of Representatives and President Donald Trump pushed for a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws. The Senate voted this down 99-1 in July, and a November effort to include the provision in the defense bill also failed.

Mr. Trump has announced he will issue an executive order to preempt or override state rules. “You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something,” he posted on Truth Social. There is some validity to this, as business associations and tech industry leaders point out.

Others, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, see this as “federal government overreach,” though. “Stripping states of jurisdiction to regulate AI is a subsidy to Big Tech” and hampers efforts to protect children and intellectual property, he wrote on the social platform X.

History shows that state regulations often serve as initial guardrails and provide a template for comprehensive federal legislation.

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“State-level action has played a significant role in addressing early risks associated with emerging technologies,” according to George Washington University researcher Tambudzai Gundani. “Because these tools are deployed in specific communities, local officials are often the first to hear complaints, see patterns of harm, and respond.”

For officials to effectively regulate and devise “good rules” for AI, it seems that a willingness to learn from local experience and listen to industry and federal concerns will both be necessary.

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of Brazilian women participated in rallies calling for stronger action to tackle violence against women, which remains intolerably high. A few weeks earlier, several thousand South African women participated in “lie-downs” across the country to call attention to the same issue.

“Just as women many years ago protested ... for the changes that we are privileged to experience today,” said a South African participant in her 20s, “we also need to be the generation that steps up.” 

Coinciding with the global “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” campaign, these events underscore how much remains to be done to uphold the safety and dignity of women and girls the world over. As well as laws and enforcement, the process requires confronting deep-rooted traditions and cultural notions that constrain the full participation and vigorous contributions of half the world’s population.

When women lack equal rights and protection, peace and prosperity are diminished, as The Economist noted in an article titled “Why nations that fail women fail.” It cited research showing a high correlation between “violent instability in a country” and the existence of “pre-modern attitudes to women” – such as restrictive family and property laws, early marriage, polygamy, and sanctioned violence. And, in the aftermath of civil strife, it noted, “peace tends to last longer when women are at the table.”

When robust laws are enacted, reporting mechanisms improved, and social stigma recedes, more women and bystanders are willing and able to come forward – as the example of Kazakhstan shows. This Central Asian nation only last year introduced a law to address domestic abuse of women and children. From a few hundred crimes per year previously reported, it identified 19,000 potential cases in just the first five months of 2025. In that period, more than 2,000 children sought help and 62,000 adults placed calls, many concerning domestic violence.

In all, 191 countries have passed more than 1,500 pieces of legislation to address physical, psychological, and online violence against women. Nearly 100 countries – many of them in the poorest parts of the world – have implemented specialized training for police, as the first line of reporting and response. Hundreds of programs have engaged with students, young people, and adults to increase awareness of the issue. While building the confidence and agency of girls and women, 10% of such programs specifically promote awareness and relevant discussions among men and boys. 

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“We must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently,” as author and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has observed.

Ultimately, renewed views of genuine manhood and womanhood that incorporate universal values such as equality and respect can help pave the way for lasting change.

It’s been nearly 10 years since the people of Haiti have voted in an election – and more than 50 since this soccer-loving nation has fielded a team in the World Cup tournament.

In 2026, they’ll get to do both.

On Dec.5, a few weeks after Haiti’s November qualifying victory, World Cup organizer FIFA announced group draws for the competition. Around the same time, with somewhat less fanfare, Haiti’s transitional government announced election plans. Meanwhile, the United States called on countries to support a new United Nations-approved multinational mission to quell rampant gang violence in the Caribbean island nation.

Neither the World Cup berth nor the proposed international Gang Suppression Force promise easy wins for Haitians. But they hint at a possibility of parlaying the unity and persistent effort demonstrated on the soccer pitch to the arena of politics and governance.

“This victory brings a moment of joy,” Pierre Jean-Jacques, a young mechanic, told The Associated Press. “It means more than just a win. It is hope, it is unity at a time when the country faces so many challenges.”

Several soccer players have pushed the “Open the Country” (#OuvèPeyiA) social media campaign, calling on gang leaders to end the brutality that has killed thousands and displaced more than 1.4 million Haitians. Gangs frequently shut down the country’s main seaport and airport; carry out extortion, rape, and murder; and are linked to international drug trafficking.

The 5,500-person international suppression force, if fully constituted and funded, could help restore basic calm and security, which another recent U.N. effort was unable to do. And more economic and humanitarian aid are also essential in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.

But durable freedom from repeated political dysfunction and violence is built on more than strong security or repaired roads. It requires a thought-shift and strengthening of human connections, an “infrastructure” of collective worth and individual dignity not susceptible to physical destruction or social division.

“Take the [soccer] team’s unity as an example,” star striker Duckens Nazon urged fellow Haitians. “‘L‘Union fait la force’ isn’t just a slogan but a mentality, a way to live,” he said, referring to the national motto, “Unity creates strength.”

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Or, as community activist Louis-Henri Mars told Monitor correspondent Linnea Fehrm in October, “We must build relationships.” That’s why he founded Lakou Lapè (“Courtyard of Peace”) – to bring together business leaders and gang members to share meals and life stories. In his work, Mr. Mars says he holds to simple principles: See individuals for their humanity, not only their violent actions, and be open and truthful.

These are tenets that Haiti’s leaders – and its international security partners – can well apply. Haitians deserve no less.

A global survey two years ago found that 84% of people understood the definition of inflation. Only 42%, or half as many, understood compound interest, or the accumulated earnings from interest on savings and investments. This month, the United States offered initial details on a new program passed by Congress this year that could help Americans enhance their financial fluency on that key aspect of free enterprise.

Starting next July, parents of newborns through 2028 will be eligible to receive $1,000 as seed money for an investment account. Additional funds can be added by family members, donors, or employers. Once a child reaches age 18, this cradle-to-diploma money – “compounded” in government-regulated mutual funds or index funds – can be tapped to pay school tuition, buy a home, or start a business.

The ultimate goal is not material advancement. Rather, it is to teach young people to manage money with informed confidence, not fear, and to learn how to plan for crises and long-term needs.

That particular part of the plan – better financial literacy – inspired tech billionaire Michael Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, to put $6.25 billion into the initiative in order to reach children older than newborns, especially those in lower-income homes.

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“We’ve seen what happens when a child gets even a small financial head start – their world expands,” Mr. Dell said in announcing his donation on Giving Tuesday. “As children begin to understand that they have these accounts, that creates a real need for our schools, our parents, our community organizations to really begin to grow financial literacy in the country.”

The idea of tax-advantaged savings vehicles for children is not new. It has had mixed results in a few states and in other countries. But the scale of this federal program – estimated at $15 billion through 2034 – is vast enough to give Americans less stress and more control over their financial futures, providing them a larger stake in the growth of the overall economy. If it works over time, each “seed” of $1,000 will bring a payback in safety and security.

Immigration – both legal and illegal – is a hot topic in Western nations. Governments are taking measures to restrict the flow. And citizens are debating how to maintain a national identity while integrating those bringing different cultures and values.

In the United States, the issue has gone from boil to broil in the wake of two recent events – the shooting of two National Guard members (one of whom has died) and revelations of large-scale fraud in the use of Minnesota’s pandemic relief funds.

The alleged perpetrators are from communities made up largely of legal immigrants: An Afghan national, who served alongside American troops, has been charged in the shootings, and the large majority of those arrested in the fraud case have Somali roots.

President Donald Trump has now halted all immigration requests from Afghanistan (and 18 other countries) and ordered a reexamination of “every single” Afghan allowed into the U.S. since its 2021 military withdrawal. He also called for immigration raids in Minneapolis, using derogatory language about Somalis.

Pursuing justice and controlling immigration are a government’s rightful prerogatives. It is also not unreasonable, as The Washington Post wrote, “to expect new arrivals to be enthusiastic about their adopted country,” adding, “And the reality is that most are.”

“American society and ... Minnesota have been extremely good to Somalis,” a Somali American professor told The New York Times. Many who fled their country’s civil war and corruption, he noted, had learned to survive through illegal means. Now, the illegal actions of some burden the entire community, another Somali American told the Times, making “it easier for people already inclined to reject us to double down.”

As with Somalis, thousands of Afghan immigrants are also building lives and community connections around the country. “It would be a shame if this single act of betrayal [the National Guard ambush] became the excuse for deporting all Afghan refugees in the U.S.,” The Wall Street Journal wrote.

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To thrive, democracy requires trust and respect for individual dignity and cultural contributions. As more people avoid collective condemnation or assigning of guilt by association, that will help uphold calm and reasoned action. Just a few days after 9/11, then-President George W. Bush visited a mosque and urged Americans not to avenge the attacks by lashing out at innocent Arabs and Muslims. After the 2015 Charlie Hebdo magazine killings in Paris, France’s president voiced similar sentiments, as did the British prime minister last year after three girls were killed by a young man of Rwandan ancestry.

Will something similar now occur in the U.S. to prevent collective punishment of all Afghans and Somalis living here? If so, standing up for this simple justice would make America safer.

The Trump administration’s drive to end the war in Ukraine – initially under a plan that favored Moscow’s terms – has hit a big speed bump: American allies in Europe are demanding that Russia be held accountable for war crimes, such as the abduction of Ukrainian children and the execution of prisoners of war.

For Ukrainians, real peace demands at least truth-telling if not justice for such violations of international law. For Europe, too, any deal that wipes the slate clean for Russia “would be sowing the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion,” said Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy.

“We cannot give up on the rights of the victims of Russian aggression and Russian crimes,” he told Politico.

Why is Europe so adamant on this point? For one, it saw the worst of warfare during the 20th century. But in 1975, it helped set up the world’s largest regional security organization – which included the Soviet Union – under a politically binding agreement known as the Helsinki Final Act. The pact has since been a beacon for universal values, such as the innocence of noncombatants in a conflict.

It also led to a new body, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), that monitors breaches of international law (as well as election law) in European countries, as well as in Canada and the United States. Russia remains a member – although an obstructionist one – because it has long viewed the security arrangement as a pathway to someday dominating Europe without an American presence.

On Dec. 4-5, the 57 participating states of the OSCE will gather in Vienna for an annual ministerial meeting. A hot topic is how to reset the rules of war and humanitarian law by using the organization as a vehicle. In September, for example, an investigation by the OSCE found Russia had violated international law in its treatment of POWs. The invasion was “a brutal rejection of the norms that have preserved peace in Europe for decades,” said Elina Valtonen, Finland’s foreign minister and current chair of the OSCE.

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In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin spelled out his gripe about the organization: “What was the OSCE created for? To resolve complex situations in Europe. And what did it all boil down to? The entire activity of the OSCE reduced to becoming a platform for discussing, for example, human rights in the post-Soviet space.”

For Ukraine, the principles that uphold rights are not an abstraction. They are being defended, from the battlefield to basement bunkers. A peace plan that restores those rights, and holds Russia accountable for trampling on them, is the ultimate measure of peace.