Flagging democracies find inspiration in Ukraine

Ukrainians are showing that democracy matters enough to them to die for. Some of Kyiv’s allies are having trouble convincing voters that democracy works.

At first, when the results of French presidential elections were announced on Sunday evening, there came a great, yogic exhalation: a sense of relief in Washington and other Western capitals that President Emmanuel Macron had defeated Marine Le Pen, a far-right populist with a soft spot for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

There followed newly intensified efforts to give Ukraine the weapons it needs to beat back...