Yes. Even Putin needed a pretext (in his case false flag operations) in the beginning of his reign. But any kind commotion, large enough, will do in a pinch. Th

Yes. Even Putin needed a pretext (in his case false flag operations) in the beginning of his reign. But any kind commotion, large enough, will do in a pinch. The dictator playbook is different in a newly minted dictatorship and a mature one. Rules become progressively less important the longer it goes on.