Putin and bin Laden are under pressure, and so reverted to type. Russian-ness is dying, Islam is dying, what’s a bully-boy to do? Why, lash out, of course.

But Putin might have real reason. There is an arch of instability that stretches from Eastern Europe through the Stans to China, North Korea, and Japan. Meanwhile, the core is rotting. The invasion of Ossettia was a message for the arch – “Don’t even think about it”.

The ever cheerfull Spengler said it better than me: The world is full of undead tribes with delusions of grandeur, and soon-to-be-extinct peoples who rather would go out with a bang than a whimper. The supra-ethnic states of the world have a common interest in containing the mischief that might be made by the losers.

But some undead tribes can be quite large. When Russia and Islam’s turn comes to die, they will take a few of us with them.

ADE