escalation

But U.S. officials have lately been citing what they call a significant escalation on Moscow’s part: the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to fight on the Russian side.

Trump himself has not commented, but he won the election after promising to end the war - and people close to him have condemned the move as dangerous escalation.

Efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified, with a US envoy expected to return to Lebanon for talks over a possible deal, amid an escalation of Israel’s air attacks across the country.

The fear is that although Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats have turned out to be largely bluffs, allowing Ukraine to hit targets deep inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles could provoke a major escalation.

In addition, the election revealed the extent that Trump’s escalation of the so-called “culture wars,” positioned him with his followers as a self-styled defender of reactionary values against the tide of progressive reform.