Putins Ukraine Strategy: Crazy, Shrewd, A Little Of Both? | RFE/RL | 3/06/2014 — Is #Russian President Vladimir #Putin crazy or crazy like a fox? In remarks quoted by The New York Times, #German Chancellor Angela #Merkel reportedly wondered aloud whether the #Kremlin leader was living in another world. - Military intervention in #Ukraine suggests Putin out of touch And despite the fact that the German government later denied Merkels comments, an increasing number of analysts have been suggesting that, with his military intervention in Ukraine, Putin may have indeed taken leave of his senses. Stanislav Belkovsky, an influential Moscow-based political commentator, says the poor guys brain isnt working. - What we see now is … a politician who has lost his mind Andrei Zubov, a professor at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations, agrees. We always make prognoses based on the assumption that the politician, even if selfish and cruel, is intelligent and rational. But what we see now is the behavior of a politician who has lost his mind, Zubov says. - Madman theory: Rumors of Putins madness become so prevalent Rumors of Putins supposed madness have become so prevalent in recent days that one cant help but recall the madman theory of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, whose administration tried to plant the suspicion that he was unbalanced in order to scare geopolitical opponents into concessions. - Rather cold calculation and deliberation than madness But Putin has been such a shrewd political player for more than a decade and a half, and many observers see cold calculation and deliberation, rather than madness, in his latest Ukraine gambit. - Putins cost-benefit calculus differs from Western politicians Jan Techau, director of Carnegie Europe in Brussels, suggests that Putin is simply employing a cost-benefit calculus that is completely different from that used by Western politicians. - Putin sees existential threat to Russia in Ukraines bend to EU Putin, he says, sees an existential threat to Russia in Ukraines westward drift and therefore is willing to bear a very high political and economic cost to prevent it—and has been preparing the ground to do so for a long time. Next ▶ Madman Putin 2: Russia Funding to Sabotage Ukraine for Decades
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 00:06:18 +0000
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