To seek the peace and security of a world without Russia

Russia has been wrong footed in Ukraine. Its invasion plans were in disarray before it even started--its military forces simply weren't suited for the job . Half their budget is being spent on useless prestige projects like submarines and the other half is being lost to corruption. Sometimes both these factors come together disastrously for them: their advanced Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers are being blown out of the sky because they don't have the right type of bombs to be used like they're supposed to.

Ukraine's army has meanwhile punched above its weight since it's suited exactly for this job: since 2014 Ukraine's military has been redesigned for the sole purpose of defending itself from Russia. It also helps when America is (probably) providing satellite data.

Ukraine has possibly started taking the fight to Russian territory. To be sure though, Ukraine is not going to march on Moscow, as amazing as that would be, since many of the advantages Ukraine has now would be lost if it left its home turf. And no matter how poorly Russia has performed, it is still Ukrainian homes being destroyed and Ukrainian women and children being subjected to war crimes. So it might be understandable that some in Ukraine would want to accept Russian calls for peace talks, though certainly not everyone agrees with that sentiment.

It is easy to play armchair general. I don't know what the right call is for Ukraine to make. It is my hope thought that they persevere and stamp out the Russian war machine. Because Russia is, and always has been, a global menace.

The word "Tsar" is a Russified version of the word "Caesar." Russia may no longer call itself an empire, but it still has aspects of one. It is incredibly vast, yet being the largest country on Earth is not enough for it; Russia has always had eyes out for additional pieces of land it feels entitled to.

Rome existed as a republic for centuries but as it grew too vast it could no longer exist with a representative government and it came to be ruled by emperors. It has been said that "Russia can be an empire or a democracy, but it cannot be both." Yet that maybe giving Russia too much credit. Russia has no history other than one of empire. Even if it is defeated in Ukraine today, that doesn't mean its empire ambitions will fade, no matter who the leader is. It will only be a matter of time before Russia tries for expansion again. Perhaps for Ukraine once more, maybe another ex-Soviet republic, conceivably all of Eastern Europe. Russian talking heads have been casual about throwing out threats.

So I say we need a world without Russia. I'm not a psychopath, like Putin, I'm not talking about annihilating Russia. I'm talking about reducing Russia from a place that resembles the Roman Empire to one that resembles Italy. There are numerous cracks along the empire that have the potential to break.

Starting with Ukraine, Russia shouldn't be allowed any of their territory. This includes Donbas and Crimea.

Japan has been raising their demands for the return of the Kurils Islands, which the Soviet Union seized in the last days of WWII.

Chechnya is ruled by a brutal warlord, Ramzan Kadyrov, who answers only to Putin. He has sent his forces normally reserved for suppressing locals to the war in Ukraine. "Almost everyone, except the Chechen propaganda circus, has noted that his army has not engaged in fighting, but has still sustained significant casualties." The Chechen locals haven't had a better chance to revolt in decades.

These are small parcels though for a country as enormous as Russia. To truly reduce it in scale, it needs to loose control of more regions. There are 22 republics within Russia, created as nation states to represent areas of non-Russian ethnicity. There are more republics that were proposed that never materialized. And the war in Ukraine has given them reason to be mad. In the poorer far East, lack of opportunity means young men are more likely to join the army. Now they are coming home in body bags.

None of these goals will be easy. If Russia were to walk away from this war controlling less of Ukraine than it did at the start, Putin would look a fool. He'll never stand for it. Japan has been complaining about the Kurils Islands since WWII, that doesn't mean they have the will to fight for them. Ramzan Kadyrov maybe rewarded for his steadfast devotion to Putin while others waivered. Ethnic Russians vastly outnumber any any other ethnic group, sometimes even within their own enclaves.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't try though. The most important thing we can do now is to give Ukraine all the weapons they want. They've proved adept at smashing the Russia's bumbling but still dangerous army, we should fund their efforts. Sanctions on Russia must continue to be punishing, we must not let Putin's hollow calls for peace mislead us.

Not just Putin but ordinary Russians are likely to blanch at my suggestions. However, they would likely be better off in a more normal country--their emperors have long used foreign adventures to distract from mismanaged economics. Russians might point out that America and China also have some characteristics of empires. We should not be distracted by whataboutism. It is Russia that launched an unprovoked war against a peaceful democracy. And it is Russia which is a rotten empire that must be knocked down.

Headline and sub-headline are a paraphrase of a Obama speech.