Mr. Shapiro, in a recent essay, you wrote that the West and Russia are caught in a cycle of escalation. If the world continues on that path, a nuclear confrontation seems inevitable to you. Why?
Jeremy Shapiro:
It’s not inevitable. But there’s a very strong possibility that a nuclear confrontation will happen unless we break out of the current path. The reason is quite simple: Both sides have decided that they cannot lose, that their existential values are at stake and they have proven themselves willing to escalate continually.