(Mis)Reading Putin

Vladimir Putin’s career is marked by two distinct facets: discipline in focus and management of image. Understanding why that is may reveal what to expect as the Ukraine crisis unfolds.

I think about Russia often. I spent most of my time in University learning Russian, writing about Russia, reading Russian literature, and following Russian politics. In high school, I knew more about Yevgeniy Primakov or the Yabloko Party than I did about pop music. I still occasionally sing Russian folk songs to myself when I’m working. I have a lot of love for the culture, the people, the history. This week, more than most, those recollections are at the top of my mind, observing the world prepare for a Russian war in Ukraine.

Our Man in Moscow?

I’m not claiming any special expertise — simply pointing out that looking at Russia has been a part of my life for more than two decades, even when it was fashionable to think that the complexity of Russia was over or concerns about what Moscow would do were passé. I recall Barack Obama mocking Mitt Romney’s views on Putin in 2012 by saying “the 1980s called, they want their foreign policy back.” A pithy line, and one in keeping with the typical tripartite American approach to Russia: mock, ignore, overreact. NATO members, on the whole, tend to be warier of Moscow — certainly, the former Soviet states are — but the Americans predominate financially and militarily, and…