Sir, – With their usual acuity, both Professor Geoffrey Till and Sir Robert Fry [111/2 p. 18, 34] have, in their different ways, put their finger on an important fact about the Western failure to understand or to foresee the approach and severity of the Ukrainian situation. In brief they both describe a failure to understand the historical and political context of the current war, and a failure by the West to take a strategic approach to a development which was almost inevitable. In fact, on at least two occasions in 2017 and 2018, three-day wargames were played by the King’s College London Wa…
