PUTIN'S NEW WORLD ORDER

'East is east, and West is west. Never shall the twain meet.'

While Western Europe took to reason, equality, and freedom in a big way since the renaissance, the erstwhile Russian Empire followed by the Soviet Union continued in the old ways of authoritarianism, paternalism, conflict, inequality, and restrictions on freedom.

Ideologically this has been the thorn in Putin's side with Ukraine which Russia considers its very own. Ukraine that was once central to the Holy Russian Empire; but now it seeks to abandon everything from its past and embrace the ways of Western Europe. It is something that Putin and the Kremlin cannot bear to see.

Putin has bombed Ukrainian cities to the Stone Age to ensure that Ukraine behaves, and in so doing he's won many friends - all in the East, who love authoritarianism, paternalism, conflict, inequality, and restrictions on freedom.

Therein Putin has ensured that the One World globalization had envisioned is doomed to fail, and in its place a permanent cultural and ideological divide sets in.

There are several factors that precipitated this, two of which are what Putin believes is his cold shouldering by the West and the economic rise of the East.

Putin has played a calculated game and the Kremlin seems to be solidly behind him in this.

The leaders of many Eastern nations are privately hoping that Putin's win is permanent, but they are all mostly fence sitters. If he loses, they will all distance themselves from him and the Kremlin, and continue relating to the West like nothing happened.

Geopolitics is at a crucial stage. If Putin wins, the world will be divided forever. And if the divide continues, there will be a modern West, but not a modern East.

But if the clash between West and East spills over to other things beyond ideology and culture, there could be a devastating war between West and East which will completely change the face of this blue planet and life on it.