The Sanctions Are Working — Just Not the Way They Were Sold

The most important clauses in any ceasefire are the ones about verification, withdrawal distances, and who holds the high ground when the guns fall silent. Public attention fixes on the headline of a deal; its durability is decided by technical annexes that are negotiated long after the cameras leave.

Mobilization always looks faster on a map than it proves in practice. Calling up reserves is the easy part; equipping, training, and integrating them into functioning formations takes far longer, and units committed before that process is complete tend to suffer disproportionate losses that set the effort back further.