I'm a dystopian fiction writer - so I tend to look at things with a 'worse case' scenario in mind. Worse case, I can see the world devolving into digital militias unconstrained by international law. Society divided along ideological lines and radicalised in their own cyber bunkers - bringing the fight into the street.

I replied to Jessica Wildfire's article about Putin having already won the war with a kick back. I'm not convinced that Putin is as in the clear as he thinks he is. Sanctions have been swift and fairly harsh and Putin has a younger population than his 70 years. I can't see the average westernised Russian being pleased to go back behind the Iron Curtain, even if it has Chinese frills. Russia is too big to fail, but Putin isn't.

With someone a little more predictable at the helm of Russia, we may see a deliberate de-esclation in place. Putin must know that in a land-war his Russian troops would be obliterated by NATO, the current restraint is simply because he is unpredictable - though if his nuclear arsenal is as up together as his tank battalions, then nobody's looked at them since 1964, they're coated in dust and have a blast radius of about six feet in all directions.

We'll see I guess. I think Putin's biggest threat is all the people around Putin. There's very little honour in a dictatorship and everyone will be checking which way the wind is blowing. Who is the Goering? Which high ranking official is going to sell him out first? Thanks for the heads up about the Suwalki Gap, that's some interesting reading for this afternoon.