“The world has witnessed several potential turning points signaling the end of the post-Cold War period: the global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, with competition between the great powers triggering a major war on the European continent, we have it.

“The West is now far from the rosy outlook of the 1990s, when America forged a global coalition to wage the short and victorious Persian Gulf war, when it seemed that U.S. power and influence would help liberalism and democracy flourish around the world. Today, America is faced with the harsh reality of power politics: a conflict we could not prevent, and the very real risk of military escalation.”

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Image: An aerial view shows a residential building destroyed by Russian shelling in the town of Borodyanka on March 3, 2022. Phot by Maksim Levin/REUTERS