John Gray, of whom at one time some libertarians had a high opinion and even higher hopes, but with whom in recent years some of those same, and other, libertarians have become progressively disillusioned, has written an interesting article about Putin's Russia in the Guardian. With the obvious caveat that I'm not endorsing all that he says, it strikes me as containing a large dose of common sense that deserves wide circulation.

"The current panic about Russia is a curious phenomenon. By any objective standard Russians are freer in the authoritarian state established by Putin than at any time in the Soviet Union. Many are also materially better off. Russia has abandoned global expansionism, and is now a diminished version of what it has been throughout most of its history - a Eurasian empire whose chief concern is protection from external threats. Yet western attitudes are more hostile than they were during much of the cold war, when many on the left viewed the Soviet Union, which was responsible for tens of millions of deaths, as an essentially benign regime."

Read the rest here.