I remember, as a fifth-grader, watching “The Next Day,” the 1983 made-for-TV movie about a nuclear holocaust. I was so scared afterward that I slept in my parents’ bedroom that night.

The world in 2023 has a similar ominous aura.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now in its 21st month, and President Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons. It is easy to imagine how the Hamas-Israeli conflict could quickly spiral out of control, pulling in Jordan and Iran.

We are living in a two-war world, and the enemies of America seem eager to join in.

Elon Musk summed it up during a recent online forum with presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, saying: “We are sleepwalking our way into World War 3.”

Musk also made the case that we should broker peace with Russia by pushing Ukraine to cede lost territory in the Donbas region. There are some sound reasons for heeding his advice.

For starters, Ukraine’s counter-offensive has stalled, and our support for Ukraine is adding to our federal debt. It is also draining our munitions stockpiles. Our enemies, including China, Iran, Russia and North Korea, could take advantage of our weakened position.

Though I concur with Musk’s comments about the heightened risk of global war, I disagree with the advice that Ukraine should surrender land that Russia aggressively took from them.

Why? Because we should never reward bad behavior.

There is a reason the isolationist tendency that is growing among Republicans feels naive to me. We Republicans should understand the sad reality of human nature, that there will always be evil actors among the nations. And as the world’s powerhouse, America must lead the charge against these tyrants.

Do the pacifists among the Republicans really believe that Putin will start behaving himself if we give up on Eastern Ukraine? That is gullibility. The only wise course is to assume that he will look for another weak former USSR country to pick on.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cautioned us about isolationism. “If peace is equated simply as the absence of war, it can become abject pacifism that turns the world over to the most ruthless.”

We should accept no peace negotiations with Putin until he agrees to leave Ukraine. Let him and his disheartened army remain hip-deep in a muddy stalemate, his resources and political capital ebbing away. Meanwhile, no American soldiers are dying in Ukraine.

As Nikki Haley has advocated, the United States should approach our enemies from a position of superior strength. We should refocus military spending so that we have answers for hyper-sonic missiles, China’s industrial output, and the savagery of terrorists.

Our $840 billion military budget is massive but needs an increase. Though it gives us the world’s biggest stick, we are weakened by waste within the Pentagon. We should clear out these spending abuses (an example is non-defense research funding) and allocate the resources toward smarter strategies.

In the 1980s, America’s vibrant economic power conquered the Soviet Union. President Ronald Reagan led the West’s charge with steel nerves and tough rhetoric. It was only when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev realized his weakened position that Reagan extended an olive branch.

That strategy will work again. It will work against Russia. It will work against Hamas, Iran, and any other state that wants to harm us.

I fear for our country and our world.

Our best chance at minimizing war will come by leading with American might, uniting with other countries who value freedom and human rights, and punishing those who harm us or our allies.

Brian Byrd, a former City Council member, is a physician in Fort Worth.