Kairos and Decision

Why Has Russia’s War Against Ukraine Had Little Structural Effect on the Foreign Policy of Alliance Countries?

The mother of 41-year-old soldier Simakov Oleksandr, strokes his face during his funeral ceremony, after he died in action, at the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul Church in Lviv, western Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

The notion of kairos has many uses, some of them approximate. In the field of international and, subsequently, military strategy, the word expresses the ability of a leader to seize opportunities when they arise, because afterwards it will be too late. More than anything else, it defines the ability to make a clear-cut decision, to change the situation decisively. It requires intelligence of the situation, but also a solid and constant vision of the goal pursued. It is intrinsically linked to virtù, as Machiavelli defined it. It expresses a will, i.e. the resolution to use it, and not to let things happen on the basis of an improbable fortuna. In other words, a decision that does not rely on kairos is not a genuine decision, but a pretense.