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Opinion

Thursday, March 16

Good Thursday evening. This is Daniel Allott with The Hill's Top Opinions.

"The war in Ukraine is devolving into a protracted chess game," write retired Army Colonel Jonathan Sweet and economist Mark Toth.

But with its "forever war" approach, the Biden administration is missing "opportunities to turn bloody battles, such as the ongoing fight for Bakhmut, into potentially game-ending 'checkmates.'"

The authors believe Biden's fallacy is that prolonging the war will somehow bring Putin to the negotiating table. But as Biden dithers, "Putin is being afforded valuable time to add back rooks, knights and bishops to the battlefields of Ukraine."

The ultimate checkmate may come from China, as Sweet and Toth think President Xi Jinping "sees an opening to use Biden's apparent unwillingness to go for a decisive win as a means to weaken the U.S. ahead of any potential conflict in Taiwan."

"Thus, while all three of the world's superpowers are invested in a protracted war in Ukraine, only one of them, China, is bringing a 'checkmate' strategy to the game."

"It's time to give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the pieces he needs to 'checkmate' Putin," the authors conclude. By doing so, they'll also "put up a roadblock to China's quickening march to Taipei."

Read Sweet and Toth's piece here.

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MORE TOP OPINIONS

Bank regulators were asleep at the wheel: Their wake-up call is overdue

By PAUL KUPIEC, fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

Before it adds a lot of new regulations, perhaps the Biden administration should make sure that the administration's bank regulators are awake and on the job enforcing the basic safety and soundness rules already on the books instead of creating climate-change stress tests and assessing a bank's commitment to the administration's diversity, equity and inclusion agenda.

Read the op-ed here

Russia must be removed from the United Nations Security Council

By DMYTRO KULEBA, foreign minister of Ukraine

Russia never legally acquired its status as a permanent UN Security Council member and must lose its seat in this esteemed chamber. Until that happens, the criminal in a judge's seat will continue to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the whole United Nations system.

Read the op-ed here

Ukraine hasn't ousted all its pro-Russia politicians — for good reason

By ANDREW D'ANIERI, assistant director at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center

While this may seem absurd, allowing pro-Russia Ukrainian politicians to keep their mandates for the time being is a hugely positive signal for Ukrainian democracy. It proves that rule of law, due process and freedom of speech matter in Ukraine, no matter an individual's political beliefs or treasonous activities.

Read the op-ed here

Jim Jordan's 'weaponization' panel is all conclusions, no evidence

By KRIS KOLESNIK, 34-year veteran of federal government oversight

The Republicans' predicament is that the public is becoming increasingly skeptical about Chicken Little-style fearmongering. Moreover, the current effort stands in sharp contrast to the Jan. 6 Select Committee's work, which was generally viewed as a major success, both in credibility and persuasion of public sentiment.

Read the op-ed here

QUICK TAKES

The Democrats' big test on crime

Will the Supreme Court read the Heroes Act (authorizing Biden's student loan relief) as written?

To prevent bank runs, fix bank governance

Both parties agreed to protect anti-poverty programs — time to support 'Baby Bonds'

Stay Engaged

The Hill's Top Opinions is written by Daniel Allott, an opinion editor at The Hill and the author of "On the Road in Trump's America: A Journey Into the Heart of a Divided Nation."

Views expressed by contributors are theirs and not the opinion of The Hill.

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