In 1240, Mongol warriors led by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu besieged and destroyed Kyiv. They came for plunder.

Almost eight centuries later, another dynastic dictator is sending soldiers to fight over the same ground. He has come for something more valuable: tuition and technology.

On Sunday, President Trump posted on Truth Social that, based on his "very good relationship with Kim Jong Un," he had instructed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea. North Korea, the president wrote, has been "unthreatening and respectful."

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During the Cold War, Americans took communism seriously. We knew it was vital to study the ideology of our enemies.

In 1946, Columbia University established the Russian Institute to train what its founders called "American specialists" in Soviet affairs. I was a student there in the 1970s.

Harvard followed with its Russian Research Center in 1948. The federal government itself published a journal, "Problems of Communism," from 1952 to 1992 — sophisticated, well-documented analyses written by scholars and diplomats and read by policymakers in both parties.

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North Korean troops and munitions beef up Russia's war against Ukraine. In return, Russia provides North Korea with sophisticated technology for its missiles, drones, satellites, and submarines.

Tehran has sent Moscow drones. Repaying that favor, Moscow reportedly provides intelligence to help the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) target American bases in the Middle East.

Beijing is believed to give Moscow microelectronics for ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles. There are credible reports that Beijing now plans to send Tehran hundreds of portable shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles capable of shooting down American aircraft. Discounted Iranian oil keeps Chinese refineries running.

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President Trump has stated repeatedly that Iran's rulers must never be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons. But he hasn't clearly explained why, so let me put it bluntly: They would use them.

Iran's rulers are self-proclaimed Islamic revolutionaries and the world's leading sponsors of terrorism. For 47 years, they've vowed "Death to America!" If they were to obtain nuclear warheads and missiles that could deliver them to American cities, why would they refrain?

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President Joe Biden tried to talk wars down. For example, on Jan. 19, 2022, he suggested – hopefully, it seemed to me – that Russia's coming invasion of Ukraine would be only a "minor incursion."

No such luck. Just over a month later, President Vladimir Putin's tanks rolled toward Kyiv on a mission to drag Ukraine back under the Kremlin jackboot.

Similarly, Mr. Biden offered Iran's rulers sanctions relief and diplomatic engagement even as they enriched uranium, stockpiling enough by 2025 for multiple nuclear weapons.

The theocrats were not interested in rapprochement. For 47 years they've stated their goals with crystalline clarity: "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!"

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