Financial TimesFinancial Times

How the war in Ukraine met the war on woke

By Gideon Rachman

30 Jan 2023 · 3 min read

Editor's Note

Putin accused the West of embracing "Satanism." That message isn't just aimed at Russians, but at Western conservatives who see Putin as an ally in the "war on woke," argues the FT's Gideon Rachman.

For some time, I have been watching the culture wars from a safe distance. The issues involved are sometimes interesting. But the vicious, career-ending nature of the arguments has dissuaded me from actually entering the debate.

So instead I have stayed in my geopolitical lane, avoiding explosive subjects like transgender bathrooms in favour of relatively uncontroversial topics such as Brexit or nuclear war.

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