RICHARD FERNANDEZ: The age of belated realization.

Problems that were once papered over have burst into the open. . . . The old world order is in shambles. By October 31 the EU will lose one of its most powerful members. In Washington the political class is paralyzed, unable to adapt to changing circumstances. Even Democratic candidates can’t agree on what constitutes a vital American interest in the Middle East. This implies that the trouble in Kurdistan is only symptomatic of greater geopolitical shifts, a small part of a larger fracture. If Turkey was willing to bomb US positions, menace Incirlik’s nukes and threaten the EU the tripwire of US lives was not the sure shield it was assumed to be.

The last few years have been one of belated realization. The cans which for decades had been kicked down the road now constitute a giant metal wall. The realities of the 21st century have outrun the politics of the 20th.

Yeah, pretty much.