General’s stark words

A weapon no longer has to go ‘bang’ – energy, cash bribes, corrupt business practices, cyber attacks, assassination, fake news, propaganda, military intimidation. The arch-exponent of this is Russia.

The character of warfare is making it much harder for us to recognise true intentions and distinguish between what is peace and what is war.

They have used Syria to give very large numbers of their officers the high-end war experience they had not been able to get in Ukraine, and to combat-test their long-range strike missiles.

[The Kremlin’s disinformation efforts] have convinced ordinary Russians that the West is a threat. We have been made to appear as the enemy, whether we like it or not.

We may not have a choice about conflict with Russia – and we should remember Trotsky’s advice that ‘you may not be interested in war but war is interested in you’.

Compare the situation today to 1912 when the Russian imperial cabinet assessed that it would be better to fight now, because by 1925 Russia would be too weak in comparison to a modernised Germany.