It is not too soon to think about what will follow Russia’s war on Ukraine. Figuring out the post-conflict future is essential not just for Russia’s Ukrainian victims, but also for Europe and the world. Yet, despite the urgent need to ensure that the first half of this century does not come to resemble the first half of the last one, discussions of the matter have been quite limited.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression eerily recalls the conflict that devastated Europe after 1914. The First World War – the Great War – set the stage for subsequent catastrophes. It, too, began as a war in which an aggressor gambled on a quick victory; and it, too, evolved into a broader conflict in which each side tried to undermine the other’s fighting capacity and political stability.

Project Syndicate