On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, U.S. President Joe Biden will host a virtual “Summit for Democracy.” The gathering will bring together leaders from 110 countries who work in government, civil society, and the private sector, with the officially declared purpose of developing an agenda to renew democratic government and keep democracy’s ideals strong. (The guest list includes Pakistan, Ukraine, and Brazil.) As authoritarianism grows around the world, including in the U.S., the administration says it seeks practical ideas and strong alliances against its spread.

Here’s a good idea: let’s not go to war against Russia. Let’s not even rattle a saber at Russia (or China, for that matter) because even wars that no one really wants can be blundered into. Many losers would be left in the aftermath, even if nuclear weapons were kept out of sight, but no one would win. So as that smart Defense Department computer says in the 1983 movie WarGames, “The only winning move is not to play.”

Vladimir Putin would probably prefer to find an alternative way to derail a U.S. alliance with Ukraine if Biden is prepared to bargain. But if Washington refuses to recognize that Russian redline, he may well be prepared to fight—and there is not much the United States could do to stop him.

US foreign policy for Europe and Asia since the Second World War can be captured in one sentence: Keep Europe from Russia and Russia from China.

An outside observer could be forgiven for thinking that the current agitation about Russia resembles a carefully orchestrated pantomime of aggression, rather than real aggression. Were an invasion actually imminent, any military leader worth his salt would insist on it being swift, decisive, and above all, secret.

U.S. corporate media accounts of how tough President Joe Biden was at his virtual summit with President Vladimir Putin yesterday followed a weeks-long script recently catalyzed by the eye-catching Washington Post Dec. 3 story entitled: “Russia planning massive military offensive against Ukraine involving 175,000 troops, US intelligence warns.”

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US President Biden dismisses Russia’s red lines on Ukraine

Whether or not President Biden has any understanding that today’s geopolitical landscape is very different from the one which he experienced as the “end of history” was being celebrated in 1991, is an open question.

If a dialogue produces positive results then of course such dialogue should be pursued earnestly. That’s a general rule.