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> What gets me is I still can't figure out what Putin's motivation is. Is this really better than having left things alone? He's the leader of a quasi-superpow

• brendoelfrendo 5y ago
  The mind boggling thing is that he could have had a legacy. He steered Russia through a period of pretty consistent growth after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He could have been that guy, the guy who helped Russia's economy recover and made lots of Russian billionaires very happy. He's not a good man, and his legacy would always be colored by his treatment of his neighboring nations and his political opponents, but he'd definitely make it into the history books. Going down as an aggressor and turning his entire country into a geopolitical pariah seems bizarre.
  • dvt 5y ago
    > 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.
• edgyquant 5y ago
  >Quasi-superpower He wishes, he’s the leader of a midsize nation longing for the days when it was considered a superpower.