During the Cold War, both Washington and Moscow actively encouraged, financed, and supported proxy wars across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the eyes of many influential figures in Moscow, that is precisely what is happening in Ukraine today.

The word “genocide” has long been abused in Eastern Europe. In the current Ukraine crisis, such fiery rhetoric is fueling a dangerous conflict and hindering reconciliation.

Ukraine’s Jews are, for now, not a central part of the political drama, but the repeated use of anti-Semitism as a tool in the country’s full-contact politics sends a worrying signal nonetheless.