What happens when the people no longer believe their own leaders? With a stroke of the pen, Vladimir Putin annexed Russian-held parts of Ukraine even as those territories shrink in real time. As the casualties mount and amid the blowback against mobilisation, what will this Russian president do if he keeps losing on the battlefield? How does a cornered nuclear-armed strongman react?
It is not just Putin. North Korea seems ready to think about the unthinkable. For the first time in five years, Pyongyang has conducted a ballistic missile test over Japan into the Pacific. How volatile is this moment in time?
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the Cold War's most nerve-wracking standoff, some argue that there is even more uncertainty today than during the Cuban missile crisis.
