I have read 1000 hot takes about the Sudetenland and the Anschluss, but I have yet to read a single one about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Putin's ranting about the historical fiction of Ukraine mirrors Stalin's grievance about the independent republics that were created after WWI. To the Soviets, even Poland was a fictional country, so dividing it between Prussia and Greater Russia wasn't an act of war so much as it was righting a historic wrong. Putin's actions reflect the same Tsarist mentality that Russia has had for centuries, no matter what their government.

Nuclear war is the #1 threat to humanity, no matter what your feelings about global warming. Since the 1950s, we've lived every single day in a situation where the world could easily not exist tomorrow. With that in mind, we obviously need to tread carefully with respect to our response. But we should also remember that Putin's grand aims are nothing short of the restoration of the Russian Empire. That isn't hyperbole. He absolutely will go after the next country if this gambit works. And then the next.

I'm sure the administration is considering the feasibility of enforcing a no fly zone. That should absolutely be on the table. But for now, I think that whatever economic measures can be imposed, should be. No holds barred. And Chinese engagement on this is critical. I'm not one to give a lot of slack to the Chinese government, but we may need their help here, and you know they're not helping for free.

Anyway, sorry for the Putinesque rambling. Just thinking out loud, or whatever you call it in text.