As their standoff over Ukraine continues, Moscow and Washington have recently been playing an increasingly high-stakes, increasingly complex game of signaling to try to secure their aims without firing a shot.
Traditional diplomacy seems to have failed, however, as Russian troops have crossed the border into multiple areas across Ukraine. Troop movements, sanctions warnings and legislation, embassy closures, leader summits, and intelligence leaks are all aimed, in part, at proving each country’s willingness to carry out certain threats or accept certain risks.
It is a form of high-stakes negotiation, conducted in actions as much as words, meant to settle the future of Europe just as conclusively as if decided by war, by telegraphing how a conflict would play out rather than waging it directly.
this isnt a real article i just want to clown