Let's see, a country punished for its aggression, leading to crazy hyperinflation, misery, rise of right-wing leadership...
What gets me is I still can't figure out what Putin's motivation is. Is this really better than having left things alone?
What gets me is I still can't figure out what Putin's motivation is. Is this really better than having left things alone?
Sanctions can be reversed.
If he pulls out now having not achieved anything except destroying the Russian economy then his government is surely doomed. It seems likely that he would eventually be killed or at least imprisoned for life after such an event also.
Therefore his only option is to carry on in the hopes of getting to the point where he can claim some kind of victory, however likely or unlikely that may be.
Just to add, he already moved his demands from "Surrender all of Ukraine" to "Surrender those two territories". The one horrible thing here is that there is no demand that he can "win" without harming a lot of innocent people, so he will keep pushing it, no matter how bad things get.
He wasn't far off. It's American stratotankers with British Eurofighters and F35 circling above Poland along the border with Ukraine... the response and sanctions without these two would limp behind if we counted only on continental EU countries, then Nordics only care about their own backyard.
That's what happened last time. It's not completely ridiculous to expect it to happen again.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique
He's the leader of a quasi-superpower trying to forge a legacy. History books are littered with guys like him.
Going down as an aggressor and turning his entire country into a geopolitical pariah seems bizarre.
I watched this Guardian interview last week where a historian described Putin as a relic of the 19th century: a time where might made right. And I'm tempted to agree. He doesn't see the world with nuance; and doesn't give any credence to the concept of "soft power"—he's a realpolitik hardliner stuck in the Cold War.
He wishes, he’s the leader of a midsize nation longing for the days when it was considered a superpower.
He misses the USSR. He misses the Cold War. He misses the restrictive cultural atmosphere of totalitarianism. And he wishes he could have fought the Nazis.
Now, at the age of 69, he gets to relive his youth.
He thought they'd be in and out without much resistance and be able to escape truly harsh sanctions.
I really doubt the current situation was the plan...
Right! They just passed the "Stop the woke" bill in Florida that has anti-LGBT parts all over it. I guess it's also based on religious beliefs of whose who support right-wing lunatics in the USA.
Better for Putin's self-esteem. Worse for everybody.