> historically the madman in this part of the world has been Germany

I guess different history books paint different histories.

I see that you're the fan of appeasement strategy. Worked out well for France and the UK in the past.

Madmen need a fertile soil to grow in, otherwise they don't get any support from the population. That is no longer Germany, but I can think of another country which has a charismatic head of state with ambitions of restoring the country to its previous level of international standing.

And now it's Putin.