As the war in Ukraine persists, and an eventual stalemate seeming more likely by the day, some commentators have turned to the Korean War as a model to understand and predict the future of the conflict between Kyiv and Moscow. One essay has even pointed to the partition of Korea as an example of what should be avoided at all costs in Ukraine. The analogy of a democratic Ukraine versus the authoritarian brutality of the Russian Federation does appear to map onto the current dichotomy between Seoul and Pyongyang. But for the United States, the reality of the Korean conflict—which saw two politically repressive regimes engaged in a civil war which escalated in a dangerous global showdown—bear warning signs about the consequences of unrestrained action and the limits of exercising American power abroad.
What the Korean War Can Tell …