Putin: King Pyrrhus of Moscow?: Over at Geopolitical Monitor, Julian McBride wonders whether Vladimir Putin has come to a “Pyrrhus of Epirus moment.”
Maybe so.
What McBride is really asking is whether Putin has frittered away his nation’s human and material resources through constant misadventures—most recently, and most egregiously, his misbegotten invasion of Ukraine. Losing is expensive, obviously; so is winning. It’s unclear which Russia is doing. Even if Putin recoups his fortunes after losing Kharkiv oblast over the past week, will momentary success beget grand-strategic failure over the long term?
The issue remains in doubt—but Yes is a distinct possibility.
