“War is no longer a concept from the past. It is real, and it started over two years ago. The most worrying thing at the moment is that literally any scenario is possible. We haven’t seen a situation like this since 1945,” Tusk said in an interview with the European media grouping LENA on Friday.
“I know it sounds devastating, especially for the younger generation, but we have to get used to the fact that a new era has begun: the pre-war era. I’m not exaggerating; it’s becoming clearer every day.”
The former European Council president’s comments came soon after the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war upended an era of peace in Europe and pushed nations into ramping up weapons production.
Tusk further said that no one in Europe would feel safe if Kyiv lost the war.
so it’s worse now?
Arguably, yes, because it seems like everyone analogous to the Allies this time around can’t agree on anything and are simultaneously having to deal with a lot of hostile propaganda/manipulation, up to and including quisling politicians in our governments (sometimes entire governments, really) and hostile foreign service agents.
TL;DR: we’ve learned nothing
To be fair, back then they didn’t have to also contend with hostile propaganda saturating their political discourse like we have on social media.