His greatest achievement is in projecting an image of competence, even as the West was preoccupied with seeing him as evil
If this war ends in the near term, with Putin’s own domestic rule intact, perhaps new borders with Ukraine, and guns silent, will he still enjoy his unique psychodramatic hold on the imaginations of western power players?
That implausibility is partly Putin’s own achievement in projecting an image of competence as the West was preoccupied with seeing him as evil. Evil was the main element of his image in global affairs, as seen from the West, said Paul Robinson professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa and an expert in Russian military history.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrive to pose for a photograph during their meeting in Beijing, on February 4, 2022.Roughly, nobody expected him to get stuck in an Afghanistan or Iraq, where even victory is failure. It need not have been a surprise. Although he denies it is a war, Putin has not denied this invasion is motivated by historical grievance and emotional connection, even spiritual unity. From his 2007 Munich speech with its posturing against NATO, to his essay last year on the historical ties between Russia and Ukraine that he claims justify his invasion, it was clear he had a deep historical sense of grievance.
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