There’s a lot of talk about World War II these days – particularly over the concern that resurgent populism could lead to anti-democratic backsliding. Is the world as complacent now as in the 1930s? 

Today, Ned Temko gives that narrative a twist. In the ’30s, the West let Hitler take the areas of Czechoslovakia he considered German. What if the West lets Vladimir Putin take Ukraine? Historical analogies are tricky, and so is the current situation. The U.S. role as global cop can grow wearisome. 

But beneath Ned’s story is a more pressing question: When is it OK to let the tyrant win?