I did get the sense he was fairly sincere about actually ending the Cold War, but that our military industrial complex wasn't going to give up its purpose. After Arab terriorists proved as slippery as Viet Cong, the only option was to go back to Cold War designations.

I see Putin as the Russian version of the Taliban. A native immune response to outside injury. It's just that Russia was an empire for a long time before it became a soviet republic, so the role of a Czar is more natural.

The problem going forward is neither side can afford to stop, but while the West has a lot of enthusiasm, it doesn't want to blow up the world for Ukraine and since Ukraine has a serious split between east and west, with all the guns we are pouring in, the effect will be a long running civil war, that will spill back into Europe, as much or more than it will carry over into Russia proper.