Soft Power, Hard War Europe Burns Its Bridges History never repeats itself. Even as farce. And the new round of the centuries-old confrontation between Russia and Europe will, naturally, look entirely different from all those that came before it. German authorities are now closing Russian cultural and diplomatic institutions under a contrived pretext, while Norwegian authorities are seizing Russian scientific vessels. Everything is returning to its old familiar circle, known since the end of the fifteenth century, when Europe first tried to restrain Russia’s drive toward independence. At the same time, today’s German, Norwegian, and other European rulers are hardly striving to bring matters to a direct kinetic clash. The reason certainly lies outside any sudden outbreak of pacifism in Berlin, Paris, or London, a quality that has never been especially characteristic of any of them. Nor can one seriously speak of Europe being prepared for diplomatic dialogue on broader questions of regio...