seeing the potential cost of doing certain things. my own view is he might have originally been leaning towards going in. my guess is he isn t anymore. i think the costs he would have to pay became too large. i think he will look for something less. richard, let s read from your latest piece titled a world of mounting disarray. you write, my book was published five years ago this month. the world is a messier place than it was five years ago and most trends are heading in the wrong direction. the covid-19 pandemic exposed the inadequacies of international health machinery. climate change advanced. cyberspace remains akin to the wild west, with no sheriff able to set boundaries and acceptable behavior, nuclear war continues. vladimir putin, seemingly ensconced for power for the foreseeable future, set on