There was a time —not so very long ago—when world leaders felt obliged to lie to us. They didn’t always lie convincingly, but they went through the motions . When they violated international law, their lawyers produced lengthy memos explaining why, if you squinted just right, apparent violations weren’t actual violations. When they invaded other sovereign states, they invoked the U.N. Charter’s right to self-defense. When civilians were killed, they expressed regret and pledged to investigate .