PE—In some situations a man, fearing failure, and unwilling to openly strive for a goal, will try to achieve it by subterfuge, in which they perceive less risk and envision, quite possibly, surer success. This, less obviously, can be done by states as well as people.
This is best illustrated in the realm of politics, where deceit is the norm, and chicanery the favored mode of operation. One clear example was destruction of Russia’s Nord Stream underwater gas pipelines. Fearing to commit an open act of war, The Empire sabotaged it, after boasting that it would prevent its operation.
