The six-month anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a miserable milestone few expected to reach. Early forecasts anticipated something more like six days, but half a year in, this historically bloody conflict seems nowhere near over. At summer's end, battle lines remain roughly where they were at the beginning, and diplomatic resolution appears a distant possibility. Ukraine and Russia alike have settled in for the long haul, and so too has Washington, where a robust stream of military aid to Ukraine has lately pivoted "to a longer-term strategy to equip Ukraine to fight"—God forbid—"for years to come."
The nature of U.S. involvement has been a compelling question throughout this war. America has spent decades blurring the lines between war and not-war in our foreign policy, so much so, I've argued, that it's difficult to say if we're "at war" in Ukraine already. Certainly, Russia says we are, and it's hard to imagine we'd disagree were positions reversed. If Moscow helped another country kill American generals and sink our prize warships, surely we'd pursue reprisal?
