For some time, I have been watching the culture wars from a safe distance. The issues involved are sometimes interesting. But the vicious, career-ending nature of the arguments has dissuaded me from actually entering the debate.
So instead I have stayed in my geopolitical lane, avoiding explosive subjects like transgender bathrooms in favour of relatively uncontroversial topics such as Brexit or nuclear war.
Now I am reluctantly concluding that my safe space of geopolitics is merging with the culture wars. Look at the speeches of Vladimir Putin. The justifications the Russian leader offers for the invasion of Ukraine do not rest solely on security or history. Increasingly, Putin is presenting the war in Ukraine as part of the culture wars.