Nothing perhaps could better underline the challenge to western democracy and unity than the gloomy mood of the weekend’s security conference in Munich. At the start of what has become an important annual meeting of Nato and other experts on global threats, the news of the death of Alexei Navalny, the brave and almost sole political challenger to President Putin, brought home to delegates the brutal descent of Russia into crude dictatorship.
This was underlined by the speech by President Zelensky, in which he warned the West, and in particular Washington, that Ukraine was now living the darkest days of the war that began almost two years ago. Unless the promise of western support was fulfilled with the immediate delivery of aid, ammunition and crucial