There's a lot of relevants for understanding russia, ukraine and germany. These are perfect examples of a commitment problem where the commitment was so impossible to resolve. And then all the mistakes and the leader, the leaders foibles, which we ntend to overestimate, come into play. But they're only crucial becausethe space for finding tha deal was actually quite small.
It's tempting to explain Russia's invasion of Ukraine with Putin's megalomania. Economist Chris Blattman of the University of Chicago talks about his book Why We Fight with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Blattman explains why only a fraction of rivalries ever erupt into violence, the five main reasons adversaries can't arrive at compromise, and the problem with trying to get into Putin's head (and why it's not all about Putin. Really).