Had the current president maintained Trump’s deterrence, the Ukraine fiasco might have never happened.
Had the current president maintained Trump’s deterrence, the Ukraine fiasco might have never happened Written by: Vladimir Putin’s new year is off to quite a start. The Russian autocrat isn’t just massing troops on the Ukraine border, kicking off a diplomatic panic in European capitals and in Washington. In recent days he’s also backed a refugee stand-off with Poland, helped Kazakhstan’s strongman squelch pro-democracy protests, maintained a presence in Assad’s Syria, established new footholds in Mali and Central African Republic, cozied up to communist China, and, in a nod to Khrushchev, hinted he might build military infrastructure in Cuba and Venezuela. What’s remarkable about this geographically expansive, chaos-inducing, dangerous spectacle is that… Vladimir Putin’s new year is off to quite a start. The Russian autocrat isn’t just massing troops on the Ukraine border, kicking off a diplomatic panic in European capitals and in Washington. In recent days he’s also backed a refugee stand-off with Poland, helped Kazakhstan’s strongman squelch pro-democracy protests, maintained a presence in Assad’s Syria, established new footholds in Mali and Central African Republic, cozied up to communist China, and, in a nod to Khrushchev, hinted he might build military infrastructure in Cuba and Venezuela. What’s remarkable about this geographically expansive, chaos-inducing, dangerous spectacle is that it was entirely avoidable. Mr. Putin is no cipher. He is a son of the former Soviet Union, a system that was steeped in lies and sustained by violence, an experience that shaped his leadership style. Any threat to his power at home, by a political opponent or too-inquisitive journalist, is put down immediately. Abroad, any democratic movement on Russia’s periphery, be it in Georgia, Ukraine, or elsewhere, is rapidly undermined by Russian military power or proxies like the Wagner Group. This is not a man who responds to diplomatic niceties or craves adoration from Davos Man.
