Naive about Putin
Mary Dejevsky’s enthusiasm for a new order “in which the defences of the US and Europe became more distinct” will delight the Kremlin (“Chemistry and the Cold War”, 21 January). But it will alarm anyone with a genuine understanding of history and a realistic grasp of current defence challenges. That she endorses the Russian notion of a pan-European security system, and uses the discredited word “detente” to illustrate it, will make the hairs of wiser heads stand on end – especially in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe that have borne the brunt of Russian aggressiveness for centuries.

If Vladimir Putin wants a thaw in East-West relations, he knows what he has to do: end Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory, ensure democracy, pluralism and legality at home, respect the principles of sovereignty and self-determination that have brought peace to Europe, and stop fostering illusions that a country’s greatness lies in its capacity to bully its neighbours.

Catholics can be proud of a faith that teaches love of neighbour and human fraternity. But they should be wary of expressing this in naive idealism in contemporary geopolitics. The Tablet wisely resisted the lure of unilateral disarmament in the 1980s. It should similarly avoid appeasement today.