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Notes -
Okay, now do the Russian side.
In the short run, Ukraine has depleted a lot of Western military stock. But in the longer run, it’s acting as a reason for the West to get its manufacturing and logistics in better shape. The US et al has been getting a pretty great ROI on Ukrainians destroying Russian military capability, and spending only treasure.
“Nation building” in a place like Afghanistan and “nation rebuilding” in a place like post-war Ukraine are both expensive, but the latter won’t be lighting money on fire.
The US isn’t “managing” several wars either, in any strong sense of the word. It’s supporting Ukraine in a major war, and Israel in a minor one (that seems unlikely at this point to turn into a major one). This isn’t Vietnam or Iraq. Our forces are not being depleted, or somehow becoming incapable of keeping a focus on China. Attention is split more, sure, but we aren’t fighting these wars or making commitments we can’t rapidly shift.
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