1) Over at the New York Review of Books, Fred Kaplan takes us through the post-Cold War history of the events that led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The article shows both that the current situation has deep roots, and that the history of Europe could have taken a decisively different turn if President Clinton's Partnership for Peace had taken hold. (Hat tip: Paola Giuliano)
2) In the WSJ, Gerald Seib muses about whether the Ukraine war will lead to US to return to realpolitik. Not that the US ever really departed from realpolitik to start with...
3) Also in the WSJ, Greg Ip discusses the West's chances in the power struggle that increasingly pits it against Russia and China.
As these articles show, big events, like the one we are witnessing in Ukraine, often provide an occasion for commentators to reassess and clarify their thinking on international relations. Trends that might have been hidden come to the fore with greater clarity. Clear strategic choices are made, in a way that rules out certain historical paths and opens up new ones. We seem to be in such a clarifying moment. The US is not the only one facing such a moment - China is, too. As for Russia, it made its choice, and that choice is not likely to end up well for the Russian people - whatever the military outcome of the war in Ukraine.
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