> How Putin evaluates different outcomes for Russia is likely to be very different than that from a western context. Few people aside from area experts are awa

> How Putin evaluates different outcomes for Russia is likely to be very different than that from a western context. Few people aside from area experts are aware that Saddam Hussein thought that he won Gulf War 1. In his world, when a ruler loses a war, he is deposed and probably killed. He faced a war with the world's most powerful forces and emerged alive and in power. Therefore, he won. The portrayal of Putin and the Kremlin in general by Western government and media is based on caricature. Since the war began, Kremlinologists trying to give a more nuanced view are shouted down.