Nothing quite beats a good paradox in politics. Just as the world hails the 25th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Vladimir Putin is getting ready for a new one. This time round it would divide eastern from western Ukraine, the logical next step in Russia’s Cold War 2.0.
It’s not yet clear who would build this wall, or fence, or barbed-wire curtain; it could be the Kiev government or the Russian-backed separatists. In each of the opposing camps, there is support for some kind of physical boundary between the two sides. To my astonishment I find myself in sympathy with the idea. There was something indecent about living in Eastern Europe in the months before the Berlin Wall was punctured; it was like spying on a man’s last gasping seconds. But political walls aren’t just a curse, they help to define identity. And when, as in Ukraine, a problem cannot be solved by one generation, a wall can buy time.
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