US troops wade through the water after landing on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, during the Allies' invasion of Normandy, France. About 160,000 Allied troops carried out the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Editor’s note:Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and senior columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Viewmore opinionon CNN
CNN —
Parachutes flapped open in midair over France this week as USparatroopers leaped outof World War II-era military planes, launching the start ofsolemn commemorationsmarking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a week that will bring dozens of world leaders, including President Joe Biden, for events that will be rich in symbolism and resonant with current times.
For decades,the United States, its allies and others have come together to remember the June 6, 1944, US-led landing in Normandy, thelargest seaborne invasion in historyand the pivotal final stage of the Allied push to defeat Nazi Germany’s devastating, genocidal campaign of conquest.
The ceremonies, as is tradition, honor those who fought and died inWorld WarII, and reaffirm a commitment to learn the lessons of history.But what exactly are those lessons, and how exactly will world leaders turn that commitment into reality?
That nebulous pledge to prevent history from repeating itself has become starkly concrete as Russian forces seek to subjugate Ukraine in the first major land war in Europesince World War II.
In France this week, Biden will join some 25 prime ministers and presidents — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend; Russia’s Vladimir Putin has not been invited — marking the occasion.
Reenactors participate in a ceremony Tuesday at Utah Beach near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France, in celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
In a remarkable twist, history also echoes in the possibly next presidentof the United States, Donald Trump, who has revived the term“America First,”used in the 1930s and ’40s by Americans who wanted the US to stand back, even as Hitler launched a war to conquer Europe.
As he foreshadows potentially drastic changes in theUS approach to Europe’sdefense andto the warin Ukraine, Trump is raising“existential”anxietyamong US allies.
During Biden’s time in France, he will speak“about the importance ofdefending freedom and democracy,”and discuss“a wide range of global challenges.”
Topping the agenda: how to help Ukraine.
The host, French President Emmanuel Macron, has emerged as one of the most outspoken advocates of upgrading support for Kyiv, contrasting with Biden’s assertive but more cautious approach.
Macron’s transformation has been remarkable. In the weeks leading up to Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of its neighbor, he traveled to Moscow, meeting with Putin at hiscolossally longCovid-19-distancing table, in search of a way to prevent the conflagration.
Those who thought Macron was being too deferential to the Russian dictatorhad extra reason to cringewhen, months after Russian forces crossed into Ukraine, Macron declared that“we must not humiliateRussia.” And all as Russia’s plan to score a swift victory was unraveling and Biden wasreaffirminghis unwavering support for Kyiv.
In the intervening years, Macron’s stance has hardened as his view of the risk Russia poses to Europe and the West has darkened. In April,he warned,“OurEurope is mortal; it can die,”partly as a result of Russia’s aggression.
Earlier this year,he jolted Europeans when he declared that nothing can be ruled out, not even sendingWesterntroops to Ukraine, adding“We will doanything we canto prevent Russia from winning.”
Germany rejectedthe idea, as did others. But apparently Macron was doing more than trying to stiffen allies’spines.
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, has emerged as one of the most outspoken advocates of upgrading support for Kyiv. Here he meets with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in Spain in October.
According to the Financial Times, this week, with Biden and Zelensky in France, Macron will announce thatEuropean troops will, in fact, soon go to Ukraine.
One of the most pressing decisions faced by Ukraine’s backersnowis how much freedom to give Kyiv to strike Russian targets with the weapons they provide.
The dilemma embodies one of the two fears driving Western support. On one hand, Europe and the United States fear that if Russia wins, Putin will continue pushing to conquer territories that belonged notjust to theSoviet Union but also to theRussian Empire.
That’s a concern searingly underscored by the lessons of World War II, when Hitler was allowed to slice offa piece of Czechoslovakia, then moved into Poland andbarreled across Europeuntil he was finally stopped.
Theworry is palpableamong Russia’s neighbors and is one of the reasons Polish Prime MinisterDonald Tusk hastold his people to prepare, calling this time a“prewar era.”
On the other hand, the fear is that giving Ukraine carte blanche to strike at Russia risks escalating the conflict into one between nuclear-armed Russia and nuclear-armed NATO, perhaps World War III.
Can the war be contained and Russia defeated?
Zelensky has been imploring Kyiv’sfriends tolet Ukraine use their arms to strike inside Russia. While allies discussed the issue, Russian forces, facing little risk, struck a department store in Kharkiv, not far from the Russian border,killing 18 people.
“Please give us the permission” to use the weapons for preventing those attacks, Zelenskyimplored allies. Hewon’t use them without permission, for fear of losing Western support.
US soldiers attend a wreath-laying ceremony Tuesday at the 1st Infantry Division monument near Omaha Beach.
The West remains divided on the issue. Bidenhas loosenedsome of the restrictions. Macronand German Chancellor Olaf Scholzwant themloosened even more, though still restricted.Finland and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg say Ukraine’s friends are forcing it to fight withone hand tiedbehind its back.
The D-Day anniversary meetings are sure to include discussions about how to stop Russia, and the question of whether Russia, if facing a more empowered Ukraine, would really faceoff directlywith the West, as Putin threatens.
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As they gaze on the once blood-drenched beaches of Normandy, world leaders shouldconsider the lessons of World War II, and how to apply them today.
America Firsters helped persuade the United States to stay out of combat in Europe until the war came to the US atPearl Harbor. Eventually,16.4 million Americans servedin the military during World War II,more than 10%of the population. Some29,000 Americans died in the Normandyinvasion, in a war that engulfed 50 countries, a catastrophe that would kill more than70 million people,one of every30people who were alive when it started.
The conflicts are not the same; the ideologies and the leaders are different. And yet, the beaches of Normandy resonate with the lessons of that terrible history; world leaders should listen closely.
