The Biden administration faces innumerable challenges, both foreign and domestic. As the drums of war beat on the border of Ukraine, the administration has decided to remove the military option from the table and instead punish a Russian invasion with the threat of unleashing the mother of all economic sanctions. I’m not sure that
Vladimir Putin really cares. His mind is set. I predict that he is going to cross the line and invade Ukraine.
On the other side of the world, while this crisis unfolds for all to watch through the power of social media, other autocratic rulers maneuver to exploit the perceived weakness of American foreign policy. While North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un tests U.S. resolve by launching missiles into the Sea of Japan, China’s President Xi Jinping weighs his options on Taiwan. A precipitous move by Xi would necessitate a decisive American response and could lead to a protracted conflict in the Western Pacific. Some believe that the current American Fleet, with a superior number of aircraft carrier strike groups and overwhelming asymmetric capabilities in the undersea domain, would eventually overwhelm the new and untested People’s Liberation Army-Navy. Others believe that China’s recent advances in hypersonic weapons and increasing numbers of ballistic missiles may turn a regional conflict into a broader war of attrition.
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