America is a shadow of itself and now cast a dark shadow across the world. The spectacle in the Oval Office was a disgraceful exercise in public (global) humiliation and a gross demand for fealty. It was a callous act by two bullies, with JD Vance playing to his MAGA base and seemingly leading and controlling the event. As the Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov put it: “Zelenskyy was called to the White House to sign, but not speak.”

The consequences for this are barely being understood because they are so immense.