Bangladesh, Aug. 26 -- For nearly three years, the war in Ukraine has consumed the political and diplomatic energies of world powers. As the fighting continues, attempts at negotiation and peace settlements have faltered. Yet beneath the surface of battlefield reports and diplomatic communiqués lies a more fundamental story: Russia and the West are exhibiting starkly different patterns of political learning. Russia, shaped by decades of bitter experience, has absorbed its lessons and recalibrated its policies accordingly. The West, by contrast, remains stuck in a closed circuit of self-reinforcing illusions, endlessly repeating old errors in slightly altered form.

This divergence explains why Moscow has withstood immense pressure an...