Victory takes primacy over all else. As our national security commitments necessitate truly covert action—not faux covert, with everyone winking about remotely piloted aircraft emblazoned with logos and emblems that are unquestionably American—the United States will need to turn to a favored tool of the past to meet the security challenges of the present. Namely, training and equipping—and ultimately embracing—unsavory actors. You can bet on it.
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.
