Russia’s war on the Ukrainian people continues to headline the news in that northwestern quadrant of the globe, with most of the reportage focusing on the “many-sided economic shock” and the conflict as “multiplier of disruption in an already disrupted world” — as the Financial Times presented its coverage during the final weeks of May.

Situated, however, at the nexus of historical, military-strategic, technological and ethical considerations, the war in Ukraine is the first big conflict in the 21st century involving the “big powers” that have dominated global politics for the past 100 years or more — at least since the fateful June 28 1914. It’s worth a brief reminder...