For an American, the war in Ukraine is difficult to comprehend. Though the United States has often been involved in wars, the experience of warfare on American soil has been extremely limited. The last large conflict to be fought on United States territory was the American Civil War, which ended over a century and a half ago. Much is made in geopolitical literature about American exceptionalism. This is particularly true when it comes to warfare within the United States’ current borders. For instance, in both World Wars I & II, where the United States was heavily involved in the fighting, Americans managed to sidestep the visceral and violent experience of having their land torn asunder by fighting on home soil with all the attendant horrors that come from invasion and occupation. That is why so many Americans, this author included, find the violence inflicted upon Ukraine by Russia difficult to…