Premium: As Russia switches focus in Ukraine insiders warn Putin cannot afford to stop
Among many books on the origins of World War One, the best I've read is Pulitzer Prize-winning The Guns of August by the late Barbra Tuchman. A 500-page classic, it traces reasons for and early stages of the conflict that transformed the world in ways nobody could have imagined.
Tuchman explains how the tragic mess was created by the arrogance and misplaced loyalties of Europe's ruling elite; and continued for years longer than necessary because neither side could afford carry the financial and other costs that accompanied admitting defeat.
In the WSJ piece by Walter Russell Mead on Putin's invasion republished below, stark parallels emerge. Ditto in the accompanying video where Putin's most vocal Western opponent, fund-manager-turned-activist Bill Browder, argues why the Russian autocrat needs to perpetuate this war.
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