I'm John Batchel with my good colleague, Anatole-Levin, and he's at the Quincy Institute Responsible Statecraft.

He's the director of the Eurasia project, but we're looking at Ukraine because the war is changing, and it's not changing for the better.

It's bringing children in, and it's certainly making it very clear that this war continues

because of the United States and its authority and its power.

But demonizing Putin is a well-known practice, war crimes, Tsar, meaningless towards his own people.

The economy's failing and he's ignoring it,

all those negative things. And I'm not refuting them.

What I'm saying is that demonization has another aspect.

There's a new article in the foreign affairs,

which I urge on everybody, because foreign affairs clearly put it first,

they regard it as significant.

And it certainly helped me understand

what we might be seeing in Asia, in South America,

in Greenland, in Europe, in the EU.

This is an article about the stagnant order by Michael Beckley.

The argument is very simple to present, but it requires a good deal of evidence.

The age of rising powers is ending, and the fallout is already fueling conflict, Mr. Beckley

writes.

One threat is that stagnating states are militarizing to reclaim lost in quotes territories and maintain great power status

russia has already rolled the dice in ukraine and if unchecked could set its size on

wealthier neighbors such as the Baltic states or Poland.

That's one version of what we're visiting.

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