Far from delivering the “great prize” of Ukraine to the West, the Euromaidan tore the country apart as the passions ignited by the protests and stoked by the likes of Nuland and McCain polarized and radicalized Ukraine’s population. This outcome was entirely predictable. Ukraine had always been a divided society and fragile state. What is more, Washington’s recklessness had even reversed the domino theory of democratization. Far from undermining Putin, the Euromaidan had consolidated support for him where it counted most: at home and in eastern Ukraine.

Washington’s second cardinal strategic error was that it had gotten America embroiled in a struggle of peripheral interest to it but of vital interest to its rival, Moscow. Even Barack Obama acknowledged this reality: Because Ukraine was a core interest for Russia but not for the United States, Washington would inevitably face significant disadvantages there.