Getting the case for diplomacy in Ukraine right
Elites are beginning to recognize that the war in Ukraine is lost - but this hardly vindicates the politics of Russian militarists.
Pay much attention to how military officials and administration officials are talking about Ukraine these days and it’s hard to miss a growing consensus: the war has been lost. A new piece in Foreign Affairs is quite blunt about it, declaring that “Kyiv’s war aims” are now “out of reach,” which means that it’s time to start “redefining success”. And understandably, opponents of the war are celebrating this dawning revelation that diplomacy, for Ukraine, may be the only way to cut its losses.
But a new article in a new article for Compact (ugh), A Bitter Vindication for Ukraine Doves, Branko Marcetic draws several conclusions that nothing about this outcome actually warrants. Diplomacy may be the only way out for Ukraine, but that doesn’t mean that every argument for diplomacy has been legitimate.
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