7/26 Russia's ultimate goal in this war is to end an independent Ukraine/Ukrainian identity separate from Russia's, or to weaken it as much as possible if the former isn't possible. That goal has not changed and Russia will keep seeking to achieve it unless stopped on the battlefield.
7/25 A bold idea: NATO offers to withdraw nukes from Europe (militarily useless, ineffective deterrents as we’ve just seen, & recklessly dangerous) in return for ending the invasion. Putin gets a “win” which costs us nothing worth having.
2020.5.10 One grimly amusing thing about this book is that the foreword is by Steve Pinker. Looking at a book detailing 3000 years of genocide and war, Pinker thinks "Ah, glad that's over", instead of "This is what humans do"...