don't look nearly as bad as that now. the heat seems to have been taken out of it. enough that we will talk about heavily divided politics, rather than the possibility of an actual, genuinely violent civil war. in britain, it's been the year of the roller coaster. three prime ministers in nine months. in my nearly 60 years as a reporter, i've never seen anything as chaotic in britain. and if you travel abroad, as i do, more embarrassing. but has the rollercoaster come to a stop yet? until the last few weeks, _ the question that i was facing every day in thisjob, the country. was asking itself is, how long will the government survive? the war in ukraine, which wasn't won in ten days, as vladimir putin seems to have expected, has entered a new phase nearly ten months in.