The West is facing its biggest crisis with Russia since the end of the Cold War, three decades ago.
Having massed over 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, the prospect of a large-scale land war on the European continent is very real. Moscow has presented an extensive list of demands to Washington and other Western capitals, but the bottom line for Russian President Vladimir Putin is simple: Russia is entitled to a sphere of influence in which its concerns override those of all other states. In his mind, only such an arrangement will provide the security and status that Putin believes his country deserves.
Those demands are unreasonable. All countries deserve security but not at the expense of the sovereign rights of others. Putin wants nothing less than a rewriting of the rules of international order. He must be resisted.