Putin just dramatically raised the stakes. What should the U.S. do?

Escalating is easy. Prudence is difficult.

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

Once the cycle of escalation starts, it's hard to stop.

So it's both alarming and unsurprising that Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday put his country's nuclear forces on alert, pushing back against the flood of sanctions and angry rhetoric from Western leaders that has followed his decision to invade Ukraine. "Top officials in leading NATO countries have allowed themselves to make aggressive comments about our country," Putin said. He might have been referring to last week's comment from the French foreign minister that "the Atlantic alliance is a nuclear alliance," which itself was a response to Putin's own nuclear-tinged warning against outside countries interfering in his war. Every tit-for-tat heating up of rhetoric just ratchets the tensions a little bit higher.

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Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a freelance writer who has spent nine years as a syndicated columnist, co-writing the RedBlueAmerica column as the liberal half of a point-counterpoint duo. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic, The Kansas City Star and Heatmap News. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.