War in Ukraine: The Return of the Great Game

I’Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be remembered as one of the great crimes of the 21st^and century. The humanitarian crisis it has caused has already caused more than four million refugees to flee their country. With the imposition of sanctions, international leaders will have to weigh their political options, because a rise in energy prices could trigger food shortages in Europe next autumn, and lead to an even greater catastrophe in Africa and other developing countries. In such a context, it is easy to understand the current war in Ukraine in Manichean terms. But once this conflict is over, or when it mutates into guerrilla warfare, it’s national identities, geopolitics and economics, not abst…