Big issues of diplomacy and military spending are strangely missing from election season.

America has had elections where questions of war and peace were definitional. That was certainly true in 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson campaigned and won on the slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War.” It was very much the case in the 1968 and 1972 Democratic presidential primaries, when candidates Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern objected to the Vietnam War. And as recently as the 2006 midterm elections, Democrats channeled frustration with the ongoing Iraq War into major victories.

But often, when the most significant questions of war and peace should be up for discussion, they are neglected. That’s been the case so far this year, as the 2022 midterm races have been focused almost entirely on domestic issues. That’s understandable. But neglecting issues of war and peace doesn’t make them go away.

The brutal Russian assault on Ukraine continues, with signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin is growing ever more desperate. Just recently, as the fight in Ukraine seemed to be turning against the Russians, Putin raised the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons. He added: “This is not a bluff!” President Biden responded with a declaration that “America is fully prepared with our NATO allies to defend every single inch of NATO territory, every single inch. So Mr. Putin, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. Every inch.”

If all of this isn’t unsettling enough, tensions between the U.S. and another nuclear power, China, over the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty are as intense as at any time since the days before Nixon traveled to Beijing in 1972.

Rarely in recent American history has there been a moment that spotlights so many vital, and immediate, questions for congressional candidates to answer about foreign policy, disarmament, diplomacy, and Pentagon priorities. The easy response is to simply increase military spending. But that’s not necessarily the smart response.

“This is a time where we need leaders who will think before they act, and who support aggressive diplomacy to lessen tensions around the world,” says U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, who has emerged as one of the most ardent advocates for a new approach to foreign policy. “We need leaders who will stand up for our national security and support a strong 21st-century defense while resisting the temptation to line the pockets of defense contractors with money that is not used to make us safer.”

This isn’t a simple matter of Democrats versus Republicans, or conservatives versus liberals. There are plenty of candidates on every side who lack vision or courage. A big part of the problem is with the media, which is ever more rigidly focused on domestic policy, and on the latest misdeeds of Donald Trump in particular.

It is important to keep an eye on Trump and his right-wing nationalist allies. But doing so to the exclusion of all other issues, especially issues of war and peace, is a mistake – one that could ultimately cost American lives and treasure.

JOHN NICHOLS is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation.