This writer learned one of life’s most important lessons as a terrified second lieutenant at U.S. Air Force Flight School in 1989.

It was my third straight hour of landing practice, and as my airspeed waivered dangerously, my instructor bellowed, "Stop staring at the gauges; if you want your wings, you have to keep your eyes moving in all directions!"

Sage advice, and it can be applied to many areas, including the perilous navigation of war-fueled geopolitics. If leaders stay focused on the fighting in Ukraine without considering the global crises which could likely result, we will find ourselves at the precipice of economic depression, famine, and yes — World War III.

If you read the mainstream media, you might believe that Putin’s bloodlust to restore the Russian empire has broken on the shoals of an incompetent, unprofessional military.

That’s true to a certain extent, and we must continue to support the valiant Ukrainians by highlighting Putin’s war crimes.

But the threat to global order is far from over.

Western leaders prematurely declared as the fighting began that they had punished Putin with "the toughest sanctions ever."

Today, we know that Putin had anticipated these sanctions years ago when he designed his campaign. In 2018, when Russia gave up U.S. treasuries for 2100 metric tons of gold, western leaders should have paid attention.

They didn’t.

The same leaders aren’t paying attention now. Europe is dependent on Russian oil and gas, and the U.S. and Canada refuse to ramp up production.

What’s more, on the chess board of geopolitics, Putin has declared "check" by demanding payment in rubles. Those "tough" sanctions look decidedly weaker when European nations must break them by purchasing rubles from Russian banks.

The new, gold-backed ruble has predictably recovered from its crash, following the announcement of the sanctions.

Just as worrying, Russia’s grain and fertilizer muscle gives Putin the leverage to threaten the west with a potential famine, which would last years.

Soaring energy and grain prices are destabilizing the Mideast at an astonishing pace.

Turkey has 54% runaway inflation, while Egypt and other nations are devaluing their currencies to afford grain imports. Simultaneously, and in concert with Russia and Syria, a resurgent Iran is waging proxy wars against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

In Israel, the security situation has grown dire with Russian-Syrian-Iranian forces in the north, Tehran’s nuclear program to the east, and now, a questionable ally in the United States. D.C. insists on pursuing a fool’s errand by relying on Russia to broker a favorable non-proliferation deal with Iran while offering Ayatollah Ali Khamenei billions of dollars.

China presents additional threats.

Despite China’s repeated declarations of neutrality, its president, Xi Jinping worked with Putin to delay the invasion until after the Beijing Olympics.

Xi is especially desperate for a foreign distraction considering his country’s stalling growth curve, financial collapse, and possible famine. Now, Russian’s Ukraine atrocities threaten Chinese exports as well.

Is discounted Russian oil and gas a consolation prize?

Taiwan sees the West’s limited support of Ukraine and worries that China will go after Taipei next.

And in the distance, we see that North Korea has resumed its weapons programs and aggression towards South Korea.

When we look beyond Kyiv, it’s clear that this war could spiral into fighting and famine the likes of which the world has never experienced. If we focus on the horrors in Ukraine to the exclusion of these other threats, we will miss the bigger picture. Guaranteed. 

Landing this plane safely and returning to the prosperity and peace we knew not so long ago will require holding our leaders accountable for the choices they make.

As my pugnacious flight school instructor instilled in me all those years ago, there is no margin for error.

Brig Gen (ret) Blaine Holt is a co-founder of Restore Liberty, former Deputy Representative to NATO, lifetime member on the Council on Foreign Relations and Newsmax Contributor. The views presented are those of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, or its components.