Believing in their military might, neither Putin nor Trump considered the consequences of their attacks on Ukraine and Iran. Now their wars are failing.

Confident in the belief there was nothing their respective militaries could not do, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump led their countries into wars that failed virtually from the start. Now, they are looking to each other for help getting out of the messes they made, but neither holds winning cards.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, his goal was to bring about regime change in Kyiv and declare victory within days – not a ‘war’ but a ‘special military operation’. Similarly, when US President Donald Trump launched an all-out attack against Iran, his goal was to bring about regime change in Tehran and declare victory within days – not a ‘war’ but an ’excursion’.

Both men made the decision to start a war without following the normal policy-planning process, let alone considering all the possible consequences and second-order effects. Putin had been sitting in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, reading histories of the old Russian empire. When the time came, he rammed his ‘special military operation’ through Russia’s Security Council, brooking no dissent. The official most directly responsible for the Ukraine file did object but was overruled and has since resigned.

Similarly, Trump went to war after chalking up a quick victory in Venezuela, and after hearing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Iranian regime would........

© Pearls and Irritations