This book is certainly worth reading for the modern student of foreign policy, if only to lament what strategically literate policy makers can achieve with the right leadership in spite of torrid public opinion and a world full of menace.
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.
