In the eyes of the Kremlin, Ukraine is a failed state.
It conjures nightmares of failed states and offers remedies of nation-building and counter insurgency.
A failed state, where clans and warlords have torn the territory to shreds, is after 15 years of anarchy at last offered the chance of order, unity and stable rule.
So failing American policies help beget failed states in the neighbourhood.
All ships heading south after passing through the Suez Canal must ply the waters between Somalia, a failed state, and Yemen, where civil strife has been increasing.
The term “failed state” brings to mind benighted places such as Somalia and Haiti, where utter poverty joins with violence and lawlessness to create ongoing misery.