The West has completely failed to grasp the existential nature of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Unless Russian forces are totally crushed and Putin is executed by a cabal of his lieutenants, triggering the disintegration of Russia as a coherent nation, the West will have effectively shown the world that we lack the capacity to face up to a meaningful threat. The very best thing for the West would be for Putin to order the invasion of Poland; sadly, it is unlikely to happen. Putin seems to have become rather like a Western politician: keen on giving endless windy speeches, and then doing nothing meaningful to follow through.