Can a hot war be defeated with cooler methods and by new technology away from the gunfire and the shelling?
The question is being posed in acute form as Vladimir Putin pursues his murderous and bloody assault on Ukraine, with solutions being advanced from all sides, some longer term — by which time Ukraine may well have been crushed despite a spirited resistance — and some hopefully more immediate.
Foremost are plans to paralyze Russia’s banking system, in particular by expelling Russia from the SWIFT international payments system, an action to which a hesitant Germany has now agreed.