Yet you, Mr. President, have been both ruthless and prudent—just what I prescribed in “The Prince.” You Russians have distilled my wisdom into a pithy phrase: Kto kovo—who dominates whom? And you have beautifully executed my central idea. I never preached violence to the max, but the “economy of force”—how to get more with less. The Crimean caper was a masterpiece of smart power politics.

Behind the WSJ firewall, but worth reading the whole thing if you can. Nick isn’t sanguine on Vlad’s long-term plans.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.