The dawn of February 24, 2022, marked the end of the world we knew as a result of the post-war settlement following the defeat of the Axis powers by the Allies. The Russian Federation declared war on neighboring, independent Ukraine, presenting flimsy and pretextual arguments, trampling on every principle of international law.

The West seemed unprepared for this development. The signs were in front of everyone's eyes, yet very few wanted to see them. Russia, at every opportunity since 2001, proclaimed its view that it feels uncomfortable in this security architecture and that it must be modified to accommodate its own imperial ambitions in Eurasia.

With the declaration of war, Russia validated those who classified it as the number one enemy of the European Union and NATO, awakening political leaders and societies in the West, drastically changing the geopolitical map, and putting on the table the need for a paradigm shift in its relations with the majority of the advanced world’s states.

This acknowledgment compels us to put in extra efforts to understand the "great unknown" Russia and not to settle for the literary-cultural version of its image. Russia must become the subject of multifaceted study in order to be understood, so that the West can effectively address it and build future relations of good neighborliness and cooperation.