One of the people most hated by Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks, was the German social democrat Eduard Bernstein, who proclaimed that “the ultimate aim of socialism is nothing, but the movement is everything”. In Soviet schools we had to study Lenin’s fierce criticism of that view, which he saw as revisionist.

Lenin’s concept was the opposite — to achieve a goal as fast as possible, whatever the cost. Russia has long since ditched Leninism, and adopted the Bersteinian approach — that process is more important than the result, which is shown by Moscow’s approach to North Korea. Ironically, Pyongyang still officially follows Lenin’s teaching that the goal justifies any means.

The North Korean nuclear missile crisis has no easy solution, but managing it is both possible and necessary. And if Russia does this skilfully it will strengthen its position in Asia-Pacific and mark another step away from US hegemony in international affairs. Moscow sees this, and it explains some controversial statements by the country’s officials.