Commentary
There is a phenomenon in social sciences called the “law of unintended consequences.” Basically, this is when the outcome of a purposeful action is unexpected or unforeseen. In other words, someone does A expecting B, but instead gets C. Unintended consequences can be positive—such as when the IRS sends you a tax refund that you hadn’t anticipated—but usually, they are negative.
Russian President Vladimir Putin must have been absent from class that day, but he is learning the power of the law of unintended consequences almost every day. His invasion of Ukraine couldn’t have gone more wrong. He has failed to extinguish Ukraine as an independent state—if anything, he has only fortified Ukrainian nationalism—and devastated his own military….