Vladimir Putin 
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6/4/2023
A Trip Through the Mind of Vlad the Conqueror: A Satire Blending Imaginary Thoughts with Historical Facts
by Lawrence S. Wittner
"Today I am Vlad the Conqueror! Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
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SOURCE: New York Times
5/9/2023
This is Putin's Last War, and He's Losing
by Timothy Snyder
Predictions that Russia's nuclear arsenal would be a bulwark against strong Ukrainian resistance or western support have shown that Putin wields these weapons like a bully to threaten, but can't win the war he started.
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SOURCE: The Atlantic
4/23/2023
Putin Also Making War on Ukrainian Memory
by Richard Ovenden
Victory in war involves imposing one's own version of history on the next generation. Russian forces appear to be targeting Ukrainian archives where records of KGB surveillance and Soviet-era repression of Ukrainian civilians are held, part of an effort to delegitimize claims of independence.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.