My perceptions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are not likely to be any better informed than the next person who, like myself, has no specific knowledge of the country, history, or diplomacy other than what I read about in popular periodicals. Given that everybody is feasting on the same information, divergent opinion is unlikely. There are, however, a few aspects of the current crisis that seem worthy of commenting here. 

What is different about this conflict is how, in the internet age, we are so quickly updated, and so immediately involved in the actual events. So much news is registered that it can be an unpleasant form of virtual too much reality.   I don't recall ever feeling so close any conflict.  And we can check in, whenever we please, to new instances of scarred landscapes, blown-up hospitals, killer drones in action, and burning tanks. While we can read of the Crimean War or Boer War, the day-to-day immersion into the Russian invasion is new. 

I am not sure this is good. One of the supports of war, one of the maintainers of war,  is a vicarious thrill that non-participants can receive. In the past, this might take the form of an audience of patriotic individuals, usually older, in the homeland rooting on troops--from a safe distance. The theatre of war can be an inducement--turning it into a sporting event.  So, while the great immediacy of Ukraine might expose the barbarity of war, there may also be below the surf the potential for an exploitive interest in viewing the actual warmongering.

Another aspect of the invasion  is the law of unintended consequences. The Russian strategists may have expected the West, disorganized by the social network, bifurcated into squabbling factions and fighting amongst itself, would show less resolve.  But social media has made the invasion more difficult to prosecute--every movement or casualty is viewed by the world, by a  judging audience. We look at this war through a microscope. Vietnam was the first "living-room war", but news from Saigon was filtered through the news services. We are getting posts, commentary, pictures, and videos almost as soon after they occur in Ukraine.

Volunteers hope to start a "Lincoln  brigade". That is, volunteers want to enlist on the side of the Ukrainians, in the spirit of another "cause celebre", The Spanish Civil War.  Then, as well known to readers of George Orwell, the Lincoln Brigade was formed to fight fascists who were rebelling against the recently established Spanish government. The Fascists supported by Mussolini and Hitler provided munitions and troops. Against them, the activities of the volunteers in the Spanish Civil were much storied. 

The Russians have a habit of invading neighboring countries in a way that fulfills their own Eurasian manifest destiny, and possibly that is hard to understand without understanding their history. But whether they can do so time and time again so easily is a question.