Foreign Affairs draws attention to the fact that the current American leader, Joe Biden, used a cunning and powerful strategy called "salami slicing" to save Ukraine from defeat and prevent escalation from Russia.
Points of attention
- Biden acted cautiously and avoided escalation, because Putin's threats were not a bluff.
- A successful strategy has enabled Ukraine to survive without tough steps from Moscow.
- Biden has succeeded in destroying Putin's "red lines."
Biden's strategy was truly effective
What is important to understand is that the aforementioned "salami slicing" strategy was to provide assistance to Ukraine in a moderate and measured manner — thus undermining Putin's "red lines" in small steps.
Against this background, any significant retaliation from the Kremlin became unjustified.
Analysts do not hide that this strategy did not bring the resounding victories that many had hoped for, but it did allow Ukraine to survive and avoid facing tough decisions from Moscow, such as a nuclear strike.
It's no secret that many critics still complain that Biden overestimated the risk of escalation.
However, in reality, this is not the case, as Putin was already considering a nuclear scenario during the war against Ukraine, but was dissuaded from such a decision by China.
Biden wasn't just thinking about Ukraine
The current US president never considered all of Putin's statements to be bluffs, so he acted extremely cautiously.
He did everything he could to thwart the Russian dictator's attempts to redefine the thresholds of escalation, which could set a dangerous precedent for the future.
Journalists once again remind us that the war is not just about Ukraine or the rules-based international order.
It also concerns how the United States and the wider West should think about the thresholds of escalation in a new era of great-power rivalry that often has little in common with the Cold War.
As the editorial board notes, today no one can deny the fact that Biden slowly, carefully, and cautiously succeeded in destroying Putin's "red lines" and saved Ukraine from defeat.
