Commentary Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” has many lessons to teach us about international politics and the U.S. position in the world. There is a scene where the Don, played by Marlon Brando, and his consigliere, played by Robert Duvall, are discussing the meeting they just had with New York’s five mafia families. The Don reveals that he has just realized that the gang war the Corleone family was fighting with the Tattaglia family was orchestrated by the true power, Barzini. As the Don dismissed Tattaglia as a “pimp,” the Russo-Ukrainian war was made possible by the pimp Vladimir Putin, but by a true crime boss, Xi Jinping. Like a crime boss in that great film, Xi is taking advantage of the opportunities provided. While the full attention of the United States should be focused on China, the war focuses U.S. attention on the Tattaglia of international politics, Russia. That …