This is perhaps just a bit too insouciant, given that Russia appears to have policies "containing" us, not least its big new Satanic intercontinental ballistic missile said to be capable of wiping us all out.

There is also its busy agenda for becoming the new global power broker in the Middle East in part by flattening much of Aleppo and anyone who happens to live there. Not to ignore its soaring influence on YouTube, where Russia’s RT network is now leaving Western TV news outlets scrambling to keep up.

Not so long ago, it was all very different. In the early years after the Cold War ended and Russia claimed its independence, London and Moscow made a genuine effort both to cooperate across the board and to bring a new tone to that cooperation. I helped draft the new treaty signed in 1992 by Prime Minister John Major and Russia’s President Yeltsin proclaiming bilateral peace and friendship:

The Parties shall develop their relations in good faith. They declare their commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes, to an open society, to democratic principles and respect for human rights and the rule of law…

Russian and Western diplomats sat together around the world, closely coordinating positions on the Balkan imbroglio and other policy hotspots. Everyone listened to everyone else and tried to hammer out good joint positions. Things were, for most practical purposes, normal.