Who Knows What Putin Will Do Next?
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Question of the Week
What will determine your vote––or your decision to refrain from voting––in the 2022 midterm elections? What issue is most important to you? Which candidate or ballot measure do you want to see win or lose? No need to answer all of those questions, just pick something on this general topic that moves you. And briefly tell us a bit about yourself and your voting history, too. If you’re not American, what do you want U.S. voters to do?
Send responses to conor@theatlantic.com.
Conversations of Note
The fog of war is upon us.
As reporters document major Ukrainian advances against Russian troops, I am heartened that some of the territory subjugated by a brutal invading force has been liberated. Although early accounts suggest a stunning victory that will be studied for decades, I remain warily cognizant that none of us knows what will happen next in the conflict.
In , the Moscow bureau chief Anton Troianovski that a faction of hawks in Russia believe that Vladimir Putin has been conducting the war on the cheap, and that it “can only be won if Mr. Putin mobilizes the nation onto a war footing and declares a draft.” But mobilizing more soldiers “could shatter the passivity with which much of the Russian public has treated the war.” If it’s true that “escalating a war whose domestic support may turn out to be superficial could stir domestic unrest, while
