Historical Vision and Greater Russia

By David Silbey. Stephen Walt writes in support of learning history, but reveals that he hasn’t quite followed his own prescription:
The United States and the European Union backed the anti-Yanukovych forces in Ukraine in a fit of idealistic absentmindedness, and don’t seem to have considered the possibility that Russia would see this action as a threat to its vital interests and would respond in a sharp and ruthless manner. It is the latest in a string of bipartisan foreign-policy failures, a long list that includes the invasion of Iraq in 2003. More...