There's no way that Western interests can operate in Syria alongside Russian interests, without them butting heads in some capacity. And time after time, we've seen what happens when these conflicting global interest collide in the region. People die, like the unfortunate Russian pilot who was killed last month, and both sides of the conflict come a little closer to fighting each other without the benefit of their proxies.

As they say in the westerns, it's a small town, and it isn't big enough for both of them. In this case however, we're not dealing with two drunken gunslingers. These are nuclear armed superpowers who refuse to back down. If the conflict continues to escalate, the results could be devastating.

This week may have seen one of worst provocations to date.