The war in #Ukraine is not just about Ukraine: Putin has made it clear that he's at war with the entire international order created after 1945. After failing in a stupid gamble on imperial conquest, he's trying to raise the stakes and pit #Russia against the world.
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He thinks that by doing so, he's showing resolve. What he's actually doing is admitting that he has screwed up so colossally that his only way out is to challenge the entire global system of cooperation that has thwarted him. /2
His attempts to change borders by force were bad enough. But now he's trying to absorb a neighbor, and he's decided to declare that the real source of his problems is the way the modern system of international security works. This escalation is his doing, and his alone. /3
There are many Russians - and I am certain, many Russian elites - who want Russia to live in peace with the rest of the world. Only Putin and his cronies are the ones saying that they have no such intentions. He's now threatening the world and angry the world isn't caving. /4
He's lost in Ukraine and the failures are going to keep coming. All of this was set in motion by him, and it's within his power to stop it all. But the rest of the world is not to blame for refusing to bend to blackmail. We've seen that movie already. /5x
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