Even now, I think, we have not yet grasped the colossal scale and toxic repercussions of Europe’s migration crisis. It has become a cliché that this is the crisis that defines our age. But it is, of course, only a cliché because it is so obviously true.

The humanitarian impact is bad enough, from the horrifying conditions in camps such as the Jungle, plagued by rats, crime and disease, to the terrible plight of tens of thousands of migrants stranded in southern Europe without food, water or shelter.

But the political implications are, if possible, even more alarming. Every day, almost every hour, the alliances that bind the West together are coming closer to snapping, from the latest spat between Britain and France to the simmering mistrust that has almost destroyed relations between Athens and the EU.

And at the heart of it, lurking like a spider at the centre of his web, is Russia’s President Putin, aided by his Syrian henchman Bashar al-Assad.