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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs Putin Sane?
The New York Times has broached the awkward question that has been on the minds of anyone who has paid even passing attention to Vladimir Putin recently: Has he lost his marbles? The Times reports that people have noticed that Putin has fundamentally changed amid the pandemic, a shift that may have left him more paranoid, more aggrieved, and more reckless. Two years since the onset of COVID, the Russian leader remains severely isolated, interacting with cabinet officials largely via video and keeping trips abroad to a minimum. When he does have to meet people face-to-face in Moscow, whether its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov or French president Emmanuel Macron, they must first pass through a disinfection tunnel and then sit at a social distance of Olympian proportions, at tables so long that they have become a physical manifestation of Putins remoteness from the rest of the world. The tables have naturally become a meme:
Link to tweet
Much ink has been spilled over why Putin seems so eager to invade Ukraine, a risky move that could blow back badly in his face and thus runs counter to Russias interests that old and crumbling pillar of the foreign-policy universe, where nation-states are considered fundamentally rational actors that obey the iron logic that governs matters of war and peace. The idea that statecraft (to use another grand term of art) is a kind of science, determined with cold precision by unsentimental analysts, has always been false. Policy is not a dry, airless product that emerges full-blown from the heads of people, Richard Holbrooke once said. It is often the product of accidents, egos and ambitions in conflict, misunderstandings, and deception, as well as careful plans. To this list, we might add the febrile imaginings of a person who is lacking the kind of grounded perspective that comes from regular human interaction. Putins circle of contacts is getting smaller. It affects his mind, a former government official told the Financial Times. He used to see things in 360 degrees now its more like 60.
Read more: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/02/is-vladimir-putin-sane.html
Dan
(3,570 posts)that he wants to reconstitute the old USSR.
He was probably thinking that TFG would win re-election and then his potential invasion of the Ukraine would be a slam dunk.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)He may have been clever and shrewd at one time, but I think that power and money and games have driven him over the edge toward crazytown. Another person who thought Trump would be his ticket to getting what he wanted and was screwed by his belief in the guy.
I don't think he has a lot of aces left and there is no telling what he might do. He's a wild card. I just don't see any good moves for him at this point and that probably has him panicked.
OnDoutside
(19,962 posts)undercurrent but my feeling is that he has put himself into a difficult position this time.
The US pulling out of Afghanistan emboldened him to see how far he could push Biden. He already knew that NATO was a disunited mess, Germany in his pocket, so what would Biden do if Putin tried further Ukraine annexation ?
What has been the result of his miscalculation ?
Biden resolved to stand up to Putin
NATO far more United than they have been in a decade.
Ukraine more unified and more anti russian
If Putin now wants to pull back he's currently in a position where he loses face in the eyes of the Russian people, and the world. He will want to avoid that, so he either invades or Biden gives him a way out.
walkingman
(7,628 posts)then it will probably be the downfall of Russia. They will be a pariah among nations. And lead to a closer relationship between China and Russia and the world a more dangerous place.
UTUSN
(70,711 posts)Ex Lurker
(3,814 posts)they would provide the Russians with their DNA.
moondust
(19,993 posts)The potential downside of an invasion seems to be many times greater than any potential upside. Unless it's about more and more Russians finding out from their Russian-speaking friends and relatives in Ukraine how much they prefer democracy and freedom. Such conversations could potentially create unrest and eventually lead to a toppling of the "czar" and his pals. Now it's getting personal.
Or he's just another megalomaniac lost in his own delusional fantasy about ruling the world.
C_U_L8R
(45,003 posts)And that stuff totally messes with your head. My mom was on prednisone and became very weird. Afterward, she didn't even remember how nuts she was acting. Nothing would surprise with Putin, whether chemical or ideological. He's a menace.
maxsolomon
(33,345 posts)The entire project of his reign is Revanchist: he wants Russia's empire back - not the USSR.
He sees NATO expansion as a threat to this ambition. He's already lost the Baltic States.
If he sees this in terms of decades, he may be willing to bear the coming sanctions. Eventually the West will ease them; they need the BTUs only he can supply.
C Moon
(12,213 posts)I fucking hate that guy as much as trump. Is there a way to make the "t" any smaller? I think DU should allow for that.
DU should also allow us to use a poo symbol for putin.
Two jackasses who will hopefully soon be a piece of history.