Reading Putin's mind again. And reading Sandburg's Lincoln
Office Hours — August 1, 2026
Welcome to Office Hours. Come in! This is a regular subscribers-only column where I share what I’m reading and watching, and respond to questions from readers.
Office Hours will be on break for August as I take a much-needed vacation. I will still send out an edition mid-month, if only to share interesting things I’ve come across, and the weekly schedule will resume in September. In the meantime, please let me know what topics you would like to see covered, whether in this space or in Hegemon more generally. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
In early 2025, as Trump was settling into office, Alexander Gabuev, Alexandra Prokopenko, and Tatiana Stanovaya — a power-troika of Russian expertise — wrote that Vladimir Putin had three ways to win. Plan A was to work with Trump to produce a settlement dictated in Moscow and have it delivered to Kyiv. Plan B was to wait until Trump abandoned Ukraine and take what was left. Plan C was to win on the gr…
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