First of all, just like in the USA, there’s a bunch of yes-people around him, and powerful moneyed people a lá Musk or Thiel. So it’s not just him personally.
And Russia has a long history of wanting to disrupt what they call “The West”, and succeeding to varying degrees. Used to be spies, radio, books, money, TV, you name it - now the internet and Putin’s wish to go back to the good ol’ times put it all on overdrive.
And just like in the USA, it seems they don’t see the signs of their own defeat and don’t know when to stop.
Hubris is a real thing. There’s a reason why any sane democracy has limitations on how long one person can stay in power.
WRT Iceland - just like Greenland it’s strategically important, even more so as the ice caps melt.
Thank you for this detailed explanation. What I still don’t understand though is what is/was the end game? The West has been somewhat disrupted, to various degrees as you stated. Do they even know what “winning” is supposed to look like, what’s the vision?
First of all, just like in the USA, there’s a bunch of yes-people around him, and powerful moneyed people a lá Musk or Thiel. So it’s not just him personally.
And Russia has a long history of wanting to disrupt what they call “The West”, and succeeding to varying degrees. Used to be spies, radio, books, money, TV, you name it - now the internet and Putin’s wish to go back to the good ol’ times put it all on overdrive.
And just like in the USA, it seems they don’t see the signs of their own defeat and don’t know when to stop.
Hubris is a real thing. There’s a reason why any sane democracy has limitations on how long one person can stay in power.
WRT Iceland - just like Greenland it’s strategically important, even more so as the ice caps melt.
Thank you for this detailed explanation. What I still don’t understand though is what is/was the end game? The West has been somewhat disrupted, to various degrees as you stated. Do they even know what “winning” is supposed to look like, what’s the vision?
That’s always the same no matter which nation/leadership you look at: More. Power. Resources. Geopolitical influence. Imperialism.
Unlike the USA, Russia likes to expand along its borders. Read up on it, the history is wild.