Putin calls America's bluff on Ukraine

Now the hard choices begin

President Biden and Vladimir Putin.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

Russia has amassed significant forces along the border of Ukraine. Talks between Russia and NATO appear to have broken down. Members of Washington's foreign policy establishment are beginning to suggest the need to respond to any Russian military moves against Ukraine with a strong show of force.

How did we get here, seemingly on track toward either direct military confrontation with a nuclear-armed state nearly 5,000 miles from American shores, or poised to back down and retreat in the face of a frontal challenge to a military alliance led by the United States?

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.