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The Weakness of the Despot (An expert on Stalin discusses Putin, Russia, and the West.)
(snip)
What is Putinism? Its not the same as Stalinism. Its certainly not the same as Xi Jinpings China or the regime in Iran. What are its special characteristics, and why would those special characteristics lead it to want to invade Ukraine, which seems a singularly stupid, let alone brutal, act?
Yes, well, war usually is a miscalculation. Its based upon assumptions that dont pan out, things that you believe to be true or want to be true. Of course, this isnt the same regime as Stalins or the tsars, either. Theres been tremendous change: urbanization, higher levels of education. The world outside has been transformed. And thats the shock. The shock is that so much has changed, and yet were still seeing this pattern that they cant escape from.
You have an autocrat in poweror even now a despotmaking decisions completely by himself. Does he get input from others? Perhaps. We dont know what the inside looks like. Does he pay attention? We dont know. Do they bring him information that he doesnt want to hear? That seems unlikely. Does he think he knows better than everybody else? That seems highly likely. Does he believe his own propaganda or his own conspiratorial view of the world? That also seems likely. These are surmises. Very few people talk to Putin, either Russians on the inside or foreigners.
And so we think, but we dont know, that he is not getting the full gamut of information. Hes getting what he wants to hear. In any case, he believes that hes superior and smarter. This is the problem of despotism. Its why despotism, or even just authoritarianism, is all-powerful and brittle at the same time. Despotism creates the circumstances of its own undermining. The information gets worse. The sycophants get greater in number. The corrective mechanisms become fewer. And the mistakes become much more consequential.
(snip)
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/stephen-kotkin-putin-russia-ukraine-stalin
Good interview.
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The Weakness of the Despot (An expert on Stalin discusses Putin, Russia, and the West.) (Original Post)
Uncle Joe
Mar 2022
OP
Ocelot II
(115,587 posts)1. And TFG is just a pale version of this.
If the US hadn't had a few guardrails left and at least a few people who cared to prop them up, I have no doubt TFG would have figured out a way to start imprisoning or even killing his opponents and critics. Maybe that sounds a bit over the top, and I wouldn't have thought that even a year ago, but reading some of the analyses of Putin's tactics and despots in general - God help us if he is elected again.
BigmanPigman
(51,567 posts)2. You nailed it.
Whenever I read about Putin my mind goes right back to tRump. Both have the same sick mindset.