Vladimir Putin

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• 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. 

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• 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. 

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• 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.

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• 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. 

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• 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.

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• 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. 

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• 6/5/2022
  

  The Environmental and Humanistic Sensibility of Pasternak and Lessons from Dr. Zhivago for Today

  by Walter G. Moss

  Boris Pasternak's masterwork exhibited a profound awareness of the onenness of creation – human and natural alike – that should guide the projects of peace and environmental protection.

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• 5/29/2022
  

  Putin's Ukrainian War and Ecocide

  by Walter G. Moss

  The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows us how gravely the environment is harmed by war and militarism. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  5/23/2022
  

  The War Won't End Until Putin Loses

  by Anne Applebaum

  It's premature and wishful thinking to believe that Putin will consider any of the "off ramps" offered as solutions to the war. 

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• 5/8/2022
  

  The Dangerous Trend of Imperial Nostalgia – It's not Just Russia

  by Lawrence Wittner

  The embrace of the belief that nations are entitled to reclaim their past dominance underlies Russia's invasion of Ukraine but also is influencing the politics of Britain, France, China, and the United States. A renewed commitment to international cooperation is needed to thwart this dangerous turn. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/30/2022
  

  Putin's Far from the Only Autocrat Abusing History

  by Katie Stallard

  "As Putin is currently demonstrating, questionable historical narratives in faraway autocracies are a problem for democracies too."

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• 4/24/2022
  

  Understanding How Counterfactuals Shape Putin's Worldview and Historical Rhetoric

  by Gavriel Rosenfeld

  While historians have noted the instrumental use of history in Putin's speeches about Ukraine, more attention should be paid to his use of broad counterfactuals that, however they oversimplify historical contingency, successfully evoke politically potent emotions like regret, relief and fear. 

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• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  4/18/2022
  

  Is this the End of the Russian Empire?

  by Walter Russell Mead

  Historic empires have all ultimately faced a moment of reckoning when the reality of their fading power overcomes triumphal myths. The next phase of fighting in Ukraine will determine if that moment has come for Putin's Russia. 

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• SOURCE: CNN
  4/2/2022
  

  Historians: Putin's Strategy Echoes Hitler's Mistakes on Eastern Front

  Peter DeSimone, Timothy Snyder and Ian Ona Johnson discuss the errors of logistics, diplomacy, and treatment of civilians that have hindered the achievement of Russia's goals in Ukraine. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  3/25/2022
  

  Putin's Threat to Confiscate Foreign Companies' Assets is Dangerous – To Russia

  by Benjamin Sawyer

  The Bolshevik seizure of foreign property and repudiation of foreign debt initially made the Soviet Union a pariah in the world economy, and slowed economic development thereafter. Will Putin's invasion of Ukraine have the same consequences for Russians? 

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• SOURCE: NPR
  3/29/2022
  

  How Putin Conquered Russia's Oligarchs

  A key for Putin's consolidation of power was not eliminating the post-Soviet oligarchy but shaking it down for protection money and political obedience.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/24/2022
  

  Tim Snyder: How Putin Misjudged the Western Response

  Did Putin interpret the January 6 attack on the Capitol as evidence that American democracy and the Biden administration were too fracture and weak to coordinate a response to the invasion of Ukraine? 

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• SOURCE: Der Spiegel
  3/17/2022
  

  Political Scientist Ivan Krastev: Putin Lives by Historical Analogy

  "For Putin, Russia has long since ceased being a country in the standard sense; it is a kind of historic, 1,000-year-old body."

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• SOURCE: Deseret News
  3/17/2022
  

  Is Putin a New Constantine?

  by Daniel Gullotta

  "In short, Putin seems to strike some conservatives as a new Constantine for a new Christendom standing against progressive totalitarianism."

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/17/2022
  

  Now is the Time to Revisit Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism

  by Anne Applebaum

  The political and economic supports for stability and prosperity in the developed world are more precarious than ever; the revival of authoritarianism that Arendt predicted may be at hand, making her work more vital than ever.