time to switch to strategic certainty
There is no ambiguity when it comes to war. Ambiguity begs for certainty and a lack thereof has historically led to war.
History is full of examples: Europe’s and the US’ ambiguity as to how they would respond to Hitler’s growing territorial expansion in Europe was certainly a contributing factor to World War II. In the same vein, US ambiguity toward Japan’s expansionist militarism in the 1930s clearly led to the Pearl Harbor attacks that started the war in Asia in 1941.
Ambiguity in a world with leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) will inevitably lead to them bringing their version of certainty to the conflicts and regions filled with ambiguity — and it is critical that democratic nations around the world not allow this to happen. Certainty, where and when there is none, must be defined by democratic nations, and not those whose interests are counter to freedom, fairness and human rights.