Ethics is not just intellectual in its dimension, but spiritual, and that the spiritual dimension is the foundation, and thus primary dimension where discussion should begin. If ethics, morality, or strategy were a purely intellectual endeavor, then all we would need is an algorithm to do it effectively. But that is not how ethics works.
President Putin made three foundational assumptions in launching his war against Ukraine that should have been correct but were not. First, Putin assumed the invasion of Ukraine would be a quick and easy fight. Second, he assumed the world would denounce the invasion but tacitly allow it. Third, Putin assumed the war would deter NATO expansion.
