Another major conflict beyond the Iran war directly implicates American interests. A patient, quiet, committed effort has stopped the Russian war effort cold. President Trump’s Pentagon wants to pare American commitments in Europe. But the only way to do so is by putting American weight on the scales and generating a decisive final settlement to the Ukraine war, placing the country in the European sphere, a move that would equally bolster American power in the Middle East and supercharge the U.S. military-industrial revival that is a cornerstone of this administration’s agenda.
American policy toward Ukraine under the Biden administration was barely short of a spectacular failure, redeemed only by the efforts of Ukrainian soldiers and society. The Biden administration was fully prepared to let Russia devour Ukraine, indeed hoping that the subsequent occupation would bleed Russian military capacity. Behind the Biden administration’s rhetoric of democracy protection and Euro–Atlantic unity was an unmistakable strategic vacuum. There was no substance, only process; no strategy, only deliberation and policy by inertia. The U.S. drip-fed weapons and intelligence to Ukraine, then blamed Kyiv for failing to conduct its own defense more effectively.
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