starry-eyed, at large. Why the world must stand up to Putin

March 3rd 2022

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In the hectic days since Vladimir Putin marched into Ukraine we have been assessing his rapidly unfolding campaign—a tale of Ukrainian courage, Russian military setbacks, Western sanctions and political repression in Moscow. Stay up to date with all of our coverage of the war here.

For the weekly edition, we have brought all our reporting and analysis together. That starts with the heroism and resilience of the Ukrainian people. In the first days of war, Russia’s armoured might shrivelled before the courage of the nation it had attacked. In the face of Mr Putin’s aggression, Ukrainians have dis­covered they are ready to die for the idea that they should choose their own destiny. To a cynical dictator that must be incomprehensible. To the rest of humanity it is an inspiration.

If only this week’s bravery were enough to bring the fighting to an end. Alas, Russia’s president will not withdraw so easily. From the start, Mr Putin has made clear that this is a war of es­calation—a hygienic term for a dirty and potentially catastrophic reality. At its most brutal, escalation means that, whatever the world does, Mr Putin threatens to be more violent and more destructive even, he growls, if that means resorting to a nuclear weapon. And so he insists that the world back off while he sharpens his knife and sets about his slaughter.

Such a retreat must not happen. Not only because to abandon Ukraine to its fate would be wrong, but also because Mr Putin will not stop there. Escalation is a narcotic. If Mr Putin prevails today, his next fix will be in Georgia, Moldova or the Baltic states. He will not stop until he is stopped.




But over time they became less starry-eyed and began going against ruling parties at national and state levels more than 70 percent of the time, said Mr. Roy, co-author of “The Verdict: Decoding India’s Elections.”



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Stand-up Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › stand-...



stand up for. : to defend against attack or criticism ; stand up to. 1 : to meet fairly and fully. 2 : to face boldly ; stand up with. : to be best man or maid of ...

at large

phrase of large

1. 1.

   (especially of a criminal or dangerous animal) at liberty; escaped or not yet captured.

   "the fugitive was still at large"

   Similar:

   at liberty

   free

   on the loose

   on the run

   fugitive

   unconfined

   unrestrained

   roaming

   loose

   unbound

   unrestricted

   untied

   unchained

   unshackled

   unfettered

   set loose

   wild

   on the lam

   Opposite:

   confined

   in prison
2. 2.

   as a whole; in general.

   "there has been a loss of community values in society at large"

starry-eyed 

If a person is starry-eyed they have lots of thoughts and opinions which are unreasonably positive, so they do not understand things as they really are: It's easy to be starry-eyed about a place you've never been to. 

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

Peer Review: Google Sky leaves reporters starry-eyed