Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness The Ukrainian Gordian Knot After crossing with his army into Asia, Alexander the Great stopped at Gordium (in modern-day Turkey). He approached the famous Gordian knot—a tangled mass of bark tying an ox cart to a pole, so intricate and tight that no one could unravel it. When told that… Continue reading The Ukrainian Gordian Knot
The War in Ukraine: Lots of Questions and a Few Answers
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Why did the war in Ukraine start in 2021? As in 2008 and 2012, but unlike 2017 to 2021, Vladimir Putin sensed an American president would not or could not deter him, so he invaded a former Soviet republic. Under past presidents, Putin saw no downside to grabbing Ossetia, the… Continue reading The War in Ukraine: Lots of Questions and a Few Answers
All the Ukrainian Known Knowns
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Aside from the rhetoric, there is a growing consensus among Western diplomats, military analysts, military officers, heads of state, and even much of the media about how to end the endless Ukrainian war. A proposed peace will see a DMZ established somewhere along an adjusted 1,200-mile Ukraine-Russia border. Tough negotiations… Continue reading All the Ukrainian Known Knowns
Five Ukrainian Fables
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Fable One: Donald Trump Is Appeasing Russia? Who wiped out the Wagner group in Syria? Who sold offensive weapons to Ukraine first? Who warned Germany not to become dependent on the Russian Nord Stream II deal? Who withdrew from an unfair missile deal with the Russians? Who cajoled and berated… Continue reading Five Ukrainian Fables
Trump’s Ukrainian Tightrope
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness To find an impossible peace between Ukraine and Russia we must understand the recent history of the war and the European and American roles in it. So, Americans should revisit some fundamental realities and questions from which to remember before going forward: Why Did Putin Invade Ukraine in 2022? Putin did start… Continue reading Trump’s Ukrainian Tightrope
Our Ukrainian War Narrative—Paradoxes, Obsessions, and Disconnects
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness About half of America sympathizes with Ukraine’s plight and wishes to arm it. After all, Kyiv was attacked preemptively by Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, in an effort to decapitate its government and turn the country into a Russian satellite, perhaps similar to the status of a Belarus or… Continue reading Our Ukrainian War Narrative—Paradoxes, Obsessions, and Disconnects
October September Surprises!
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness An October surprise is usually defined as the well-known (and more often left-wing) tactic of manufacturing or unloading a news story right before voting to surprise a rival without allowing them time sufficiently to respond or recover. Think of the last-minute bombshell disclosure, five days before the 2000 election, that… Continue reading October September Surprises!
Ukraine and the Winter War, 1939-1940
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness In early World War II, on November 30, 1939, a Soviet-Russian army invaded Finland in a surprise massive attack. The Finns were eventually outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. The population of the Soviet Union in 1940 was 50 times larger than that of Finland’s. Finland’s former anti-Soviet ally, Nazi Germany,… Continue reading Ukraine and the Winter War, 1939-1940
The Ukraine-American Gordian Knot
Most Americans sympathize with Ukraine and were and are willing to supply it with defensive weapons to repel Russian aggression. Proof of that goodwill is the virtual draining of U.S. weapon stocks—from stockpiles of anti-tank weapons and large-caliber artillery shells to anti-aircraft and surface-to-surface missiles. Yet the more the United States gives, the more Volodymyr… Continue reading The Ukraine-American Gordian Knot
The Ukraine War’s Prelude to What?
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness The Ukraine mess is daily looking more like the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939, a meat grinder that took 500,000 lives. That three-year conflict became a savage proxy war and prelude for the belligerents of World War II. The Ukraine battlefield is proving a similar laboratory of death.… Continue reading The Ukraine War’s Prelude to What?