Edward Lucas attributed Europe's Failures to 'Ignorance, Arrogance, Temerity & Greed' (I'd probably add corruption to this - Orban, Schroder & Berlusconi)
It seems the same old failings are surfacing again. France, Germany, Italy & Austria are acting like they can still 'negotiate' with Putin. The Political Leaders in these countries are beginning to look like Appeasers & Useful Idiots.
Trump is still looming large on the horizon - The US Committee Hearings are damning, yet the leadership of the GOP is prepared to back this despotic criminal for another term.
This should be a clear warning sign to EU that we may have a narrow window to prove the value of transatlantic cooperation and to weaken Putin to the extent that he and his cabal will be rooted out of power in Russia.
For me, the choice is Binary - Putin wins or we win. We can only win if we understand the stakes, the imperative of unity and the courage to take the hard political decisions.
This Psychopath now sees himself as comparable to Peter the Great yet Macron believes that Russia must not be humiliated. That's exactly what must happen.
With Climate Change and a Rules Based World Order - we are deciding whether our children and grandchildren etc will have an opportunity to live in the world that we aspire to.
Many people already understand this and many that don't will appreciate the issues if they are explained properly.
We are at a point in history where the principle of 'No Pain, No Gain' is probably more important than it's ever been.