Vladimir Putin

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• 1/22/2023
  

  What's Hiding in Putin's Family History?

  by Chris Monday

  The details of Vladimir Putin's personal and family life are surprisingly (and by design) difficult to pin down. A historian suggests that his grandfather was more powerful, and more influential on the future Russian leader's fortunes, than Putin's common man mythology suggests. 

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• SOURCE: Noema
  1/10/2023
  

  Why the Kremlin Made "Z" its Symbol of the Ukraine Invasion

  by Alexander Etkind

  Can Russia's aggression against Ukraine be explained by its leaders fetishizing the small differences in national life, and the divergent fortunes of the post-Soviet generation, in the two countries? Are those gaps so small that only an invented symbol could express them? 

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• 1/8/2023
  

  My First Trip to Russia 30 Years Ago Is a Cautionary Tale Now

  by Steven Knipp

  The decades since the fall of Communism have borne out a Russian saying: "The horses of hope gallop. But the donkeys of experience go slowly.”

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/21/2022
  

  What Will Russia Look Like Without Putin?

  by Joy Neumayer

  A transformation of Russia after the end of Putin's leadership will require unwinding the countless institutions that have been molded and warped around his power for decades, so that another authoritarian can't step right in to use them. 

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• SOURCE: Foreign Affairs
  11/17/2022
  

  Putin's Invasion of Ukraine Won't Set Off a Nuclear Scramble

  by Eric Brewer, Nicholas L. Miller, and Tristan Volpe

  It seems that Russia's invasion of Ukraine may eventually help the cause of nuclear nonproliferation, if the United States approaches its allies with the right mix of defense assurances and aid to civilian nuclear power that may serve as a "hedge" to reassure other governments that they could develop weapons, even if they don't. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  11/7/2022
  

  Putin's Nuclear Threats are Warping the West's Ukraine Strategy

  by Anne Applebaum

  Nuclear bluster is a purposeful strategy to leverage fear to make NATO nations less willing to defend Ukraine and other nations neighboring Russia. How can they have a better response? 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/1/2022
  

  Putin, Contending Ukraine Doesn't Exist, Seeks its Destruction

  by Olesya Khromeychuk

  Unfortunately for the Russian leader, despite widespread global ignorance of the substance of Ukrainian nationhood, repeated attempts to destroy it testify to its reality. 

• 
• 10/30/2022
  

  Between January 6 and Ukraine, Macho Men Threaten Democracy

  by Walter G. Moss

  "It would be simplistic to blame the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Putin’s misguided machismo, but it certainly is a factor."

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• SOURCE: National Interest
  10/26/2022
  

  Perspective: Using a Nuclear Weapon Would be Disastrous for Russia

  by Steve Cimbala and Lawrence J. Korb

  Russia has retained much of the Soviet-era's top-down command structure, which removes decisionmakers from both the real-world context and consequences of big decisions. This presents a danger that those leaders will misundersand the catastrophic result of a nuclear bomb. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  10/24/2022
  

  Tim Snyder: Why Putin Wants the Republicans in Power

  Although the Republicans are split, it seems clear that Putin is working to boost the isolationist elements of the MAGA movement at a moment when Ukrainian forces are close to defeating Russia's invasion with international and American support. 

• 
• 10/16/2022
  

  Putin's Strategy Echoing Hitler's Mistakes on Eastern Front

  by James Thornton Harris

  Although Vladimir Putin has called the Ukrainian leadership "Nazis" to justify invasion, the longer the Ukraine war drags on the more Putin's strategic errors resemble those made by Hitler on the eastern front.

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• SOURCE: Salon
  10/8/2022
  

  Putin Could Fall, but it Might Not Help the West Much

  by Jim Sleeper

  Those speculating on the possible precarity of Putin's regime should be wary of the illiberal and authoritarian tendencies rising in the West. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  10/7/2022
  

  Look to Russia's Civil War to Explain Current Carnage in Ukraine

  by Adam Hochshild

  The brutality of the Russian war against Ukraine shows few of the linguistic, ethnic, or religious markers that have often accompanied human rights abuses by armies. Thinking of the conflict as a war to maintain empire explains the scope and nature of violence.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/5/2022
  

  What the Cuban Missile Crisis Tells Us About Putin's Possible Intentions

  by Michael Dobbs

  The danger of nuclear brinksmanship is not that any one leader is irrational or intransigent, but that even rational leaders can't always control events they set in motion. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  9/26/2022
  

  If Putin Says Nuclear Weapons Threat is No Bluff, Believe Him (and Prepare)

  by Joseph Cirincione

  The first use of nuclear weapons is a part of both Russian and American military strategy; the task for the world is to assess the most likely scenario and plan to respond effectively. 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  9/21/2022
  

  Sergey Radchenko on Putin's Mobilization Speech

  Putin's cautious declaration of a partial mobilization reflects his increasingly desperate military situation and the growing unpopularity of the Ukraine war in Russia. 

• 
• 9/25/2022
  

  Around the World, Censorship of Historians is Tied to Attacks on Democracy

  by Ruben Zeeman

  Teachers and researchers of history are under attack – sometimes literally – by regimes who seek to make history a foundational element of their legitimacy and authority.

• 
• 8/7/2022
  

  On Putin's Vacant Moral Imagination

  by Walter G. Moss

  Russia's stances toward Ukraine and the west in general reflect its leaders' inability, perhaps nurtured by the Soviet system, to view world affairs through another's perspective. 

• 
• SOURCE: Substack
  7/30/2022
  

  Putin's Rule is Weakening. Then What?

  by Timothy Snyder

  A shift in rhetoric from prominent Russian politicians has revealed fissures in their relationships to Putin, suggesting that they are positioning themselves to benefit from a difficult war in Ukraine and a possible political upheaval.

• 
• SOURCE: Newsweek
  7/23/2022
  

  Tim Snyder: Russians Openly Contemplating Post-Putin Era

  Domestic politicians warning of the danger Russia faces from the stalled Ukraine war are partly trying to rally nationalistic fervor and partly positioning themselves for a possible struggle for power in the event that Putin loses control.