Far too often, the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side's outpost against the other - it should function as a bridge between them.

A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

A leader who confines his role to his people's experience dooms himself to stagnation; a leader who outstrips his people's experience runs the risk of not being understood.

It is, after all, the responsibility of the expert to operate the familiar and that of the leader to transcend it.