We watch the horrific events in Ukraine unfold. We long for this onslaught to stop. We are wretched because we can only help to alleviate this suffering in the tiniest of ways. We rail against our governments and NATO for not doing more; but then reflect and ask, “what more can they actually do without causing further harm?”.

Is this a war that is unwinnable on every measurable level? Even if Russia were to “win” – which it increasingly looks like it won’t, given the extraordinary resolve of the Ukrainian people – what would it be left with? Why physically destroy the fabric of a place you want to take over?

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