Andrew Rawnsley is right to note that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine signals a global contest for the soul of our planet (“Liberal democracies must defend their values and show Putin that the west isn’t weak”, Comment).
The current situation can be traced back to western triumphalism after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which may well have fed Putin’s drive to address perceived humiliation. The hubris of the west in turn fed strategic inertia and a failure to follow words with action, as in Barack Obama’s refusal to act when Bashar al-Assad crossed his red lines in Syria, when Joe Biden abjectly abandoned Afghanistan, and the UK prostituted itself by accepting foreign investment without any checks on where it came from, turning London into the world’s money-laundering capital. The wealth of a small global elite now holds sway over the planet, as noted by Nick Cohen.
This in no way justifies Putin’s warmongering. However, I fear things will continue to get worse until and unless a new political leadership emerges that is willing and able to rebuild our…
