Any sword-rattling by Putin is essentially about keeping the Russian public onside. The idea that he's on for conflict overseas is a fantasy. Ukraine is very much a special case.

And the same is true in reverse, when politicians in America or elsewhere build it up as a foreign threat. It's a kind of game for domestic consumption.

Which doesn't stop it being a dangerous game.
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The focus on the Presidential election risks missing what's in some ways more crucial. Obviously stopping Trump matters - but if Hillary Clinton is going to build on what Obama has achieved, and on what he was stopped from achieving, it's going to take a Congress that doesn't wreck everything. And America needs a sizeable Sanders inspired contingent of legislators to make sure Hillary stays on course.

Trump is a nightmare danger - but also a real opportunity, with the real possibility that the Republicans face electoral disaster down the ticket, dragged down by the Marmalade Mussolini.