Russia’s propaganda machine spent the past few days hinting darkly at the coming nuclear holocaust. Of course it was the usual mixture of lies and buffoonery that has become Putin’s state-controlled television and thuggish posturing that passes for his diplomacy. In the West no one took the prospect of a Russia-inspired end of the world especially seriously: global financial markets shrugged it off, people went about their business and the mood was in no way reminiscent of the dark days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It seems that we were right not to worry too much about the Kremlin’s threats. However, before sounding the all clear it may be useful to look into reasons why Vladimir Putin is steadily, deliberately raising the ante in his self-created confrontation with the West.