A consensus has emerged, at least in Western media, that we are on the brink of a real war with the gloves off, maybe even a 'world war'.
The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will overrun the rest of Europe as soon as he is finished with Ukraine. Donald Trump will invade Cuba even before he has finished with Iran. Israel will annex southern Lebanon, having driven out its population. China will invade Taiwan. Then someone will go nuclear, and we are off to the (final) races. Or so they say.
The first question to ask is, why would they? There's no major economic or strategic advantage to be gained by conquering Ukraine: Russia is an oil state and it certainly doesn't need more land. Mr Putin's real motive in trying to conquer Ukraine is clearly to seal his status (in his own head, at least) as Russia's greatest ever patriot. It is his legacy project.
