Two months into the Ukrainian war, let’s assess how the West is doing. Have the democracies shown themselves tougher than their autocratic rivals imagined? Or are they losing their hegemony as the world slides into a more brutal and illiberal age? Perhaps the answer to both questions is “yes.”

First, the good news. The West’s military supremacy is so total that it can win wars without directly engaging. There is a joke doing the rounds in Russia in which a wife asks her husband what the conflict in Ukraine is about. “It’s a proxy war between us and NATO,” he tells her. “How are we doing?” “So far, we have lost 15,000 troops, eight generals, and our Black Sea flagship.” “And NATO?” “They haven’t shown up yet.”