When Army soldiers are taught map reading and land navigation, they are trained to know where they are, the directions they will take, and how to navigate from point to point to their destination. I recall doing this several times during my Army ROTC summer camp experience in 1972 at Indian Town Gap Military Reservation in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I did so again at the Field Artillery Officers Basic Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It was far easier on the sprawling plains of Fort Sill with the Wichita Mountains in the background. But both experiences provided excellent training that would help me throughout my military career. As a result, it was rare that I found myself lost or, as some would kindly put it, “temporarily misoriented.”
So, what do you do when you are lost? It’s fundamental. You return to your last known position, then take an azimuth to your destination. But if you are unsure of your last known point, you can still determine your location to resume navigation. That procedure, known as “resection,” involves identifying at least two visible landmarks that are also marked on the map. Using a compass, you determine direction to those points—three is best—which might be a hill, a water tower, or a road intersection. Once you have azimuths to each of those points, you draw a “back azimuth” from them until the lines intersect on the map. Voila, you now know where you are. Take up an azimuth to your destination and resume your trek.
In land navigation, it’s not unusual to get off track. But the good news is you can reorient. Life is full of times when we lose our way. It requires some “resection” to find your locations and resume your path toward your objective. In the spiritual world, that resection may be as simple as reading the Bible to find your way. If you have fallen into poor health, you may consult with a physician or therapist to get back on the right path to recovery. In personal relationships, it may mean simply speaking honestly and openly with those you are confronting to get “ground truth” to resolve a conflict. In all of this, it’s about returning to known points.
That’s true in attempting to negotiate peace between warring parties. Take, for example, the current US effort to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, one started by Russia that is costing much blood and treasure on both sides. The US and its NATO allies all want to see an end to this conflict, one that threatens to spill over into greater Europe and, in the process, drag the US into the fight. In some ways, both the US and NATO are already engaged, given their support for Ukraine. Nonetheless, the Western powers want to see the war end. Unfortunately, Russia is resolved to fight on.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is determined to recreate the old Soviet empire of his youth. That means conquering Ukraine, which was part of the USSR. He has toyed with the US in faux negotiations over ending the war, but he is counting on Washington to, at some point, walk away frustrated. And when that happens, NATO will soon follow, leaving him to force Ukraine to end the war on Russian terms.
In a fashion, the US has become “lost” in the dillydallying with Putin. The Trump Administration must now engage in some “strategic resection” to find where they are and resume the peace effort credibly. And the points they must reference in doing so are apparent.
First, they must recognize that Russia’s negotiating attitude is “what is mine is mine and what is yours is negotiable.” Second, Putin will delay, demur, and frustrate until his opponents begin to negotiate among themselves and arrive at a solution acceptable to him. Third, the parties to the conflict must want peace. Ukraine does. Russin doesn’t. Those known points are sufficient, and once the lines intersect on the strategic map, the US will find itself where it must be to compel peace. It’s time to do a resection to know where we are and find a path to peace.
When that’s done, the US will see that Putin is currently not serious about peace. He must be made so. That means (1) altogether banning Russia from the international banking system, (2) imposing an uncompromising embargo of all Russian oil and gas exports, (3) blockading all Russian commercial and overland shipping, and (4) providing Ukraine with whatever warfighting capability it needs to attack military targets supporting Russian operations in Ukraine. Until this occurs, Russia will not seek peace. Passive shuttle diplomacy must be replaced with action.
Once we accomplish our resection, the lines will clearly intersect at the known point from which to act.
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