While Vladimir Putin remains beholden to nineteenth-century ideas and twentieth-century means, he has forced the rest of the world to consider what really matters in the twenty-first century. The decisions that European, American, and Chinese leaders make today will shape global power dynamics for many years to come.
BERLIN – The world is probably at the start of a decade of jittery peacelessness. Though we are not necessarily entering a period of perpetual war, we should be prepared for more – and more intense – trade conflicts, economic and financial sanctions, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and the use of military force as an instrument of geopolitics. Russia’s war against Ukraine is not the beginning of a new era, but rather the consequence of an era that is ending.
BERLIN – The world is probably at the start of a decade of jittery peacelessness. Though we are not necessarily entering a period of perpetual war, we should be prepared for more – and more intense – trade conflicts, economic and financial sanctions, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and the use of military force as an instrument of geopolitics. Russia’s war against Ukraine is not the beginning of a new era, but rather the consequence of an era that is ending.