Are the Ukrainians without sin? Of course not. Has NATO been inadequately sensitive to traditional Russian paranoia? Possibly. Has Putin grossly misjudged the situation in Ukraine? No doubt about it. So here we all are. Mistakes and misjudgments on all sides, just like in the lead up to World Wars I and II.  But the solution is simple. Russia has to step back, evacuate its troops from sovereign Ukrainian territory and then negotiate in good faith to get the security guarantees it apparently craves.

Will this happen? Of course not. Putin will just double down because he cannot afford to do anything else. It is truly death or glory for him, just as it was for Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo.

NATO has been rejuvenated by this war. Suddenly, it has a purpose once more, which is to lock a sullen, resentful and paranoid Russia within its sovereign borders.

The Europeans have awoken from their long slumber after the collapse of the USSR and belatedly realised that history has not ended and the forces of totalitarianism are not dead and buried.

The lessons of history point to us being on track for full scale war in Europe. At least some of our leaders appear to understand this but, for many, it is simply unimaginable that this could happen.

But the unimaginable becomes real all too often especially when the lessons of history are forgotten or reinterpreted or otherwise distorted.

Putin, in his political death throes, will reach at last for the nuclear option. He has nothing to lose in doing so. The only question is will those around him obey such an order. Who really knows?

In the meantime, blame shifting explanations that attempt to justify Putin’s conduct are just offensive.

He can be taken at his word that this is about restoring the supposedly historic borders of Greater Russia. The rest is just self-serving propaganda.

I try to look at the world with clear eyes informed by some knowledge of the recurring patterns in human history.

It is very apparent to me that we humans seem programmed to seek power, influence, wealth and, above all, dominance.

We are instinctive colonisers and ruthless exploiters of the resources that we can use to achieve our ambitions. We will pursue our objectives almost without regard to the possible consequences.

The current neo-liberal capitalist system is an expression of this drive and so is Putin’s adventure in Ukraine.

As the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote in 1849, ‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose’ (‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’).

How the Russo-Ukraine War (2022-20??) will play out is anyone’s guess but it is completely certain that this world will be irrevocably changed, potentially in a very profound way.

Slava Ukraini! Glory to Ukraine!