Vladimir Putin’s Tragic Isolation

By Kenneth Dekleva

Dr. Kenneth Dekleva is a former physician-diplomat with the U.S. State Dept. and Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Psychiatry-Medicine Integration, UT Southwestern Medical Center and senior Fellow, George HW Bush Foundation for US-China Relations.  He is the author of two novels, The Negotiator's Cross and The Last ViolinistThe views expressed are his own and do not represent the views of the U.S. Government, State Dept., or UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Kenneth Dekleva served as a Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist (including 5 years at the U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russian Federation) with the U.S. Dept. of State during 2002-2016, and is currently Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Psychiatry-Medicine Integration, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. 

OPINION — In Russia, bad things often happen in the summer, especially in August.  The June 22, 1941 invasion of the USSR by Nazi Germany, heralding the cruel start to the Great Patriotic War, which left 20+ million Soviet citizens dead, and many more injured, including both of Putin’s parents;  the August 1991 failed coup attempt against Gorbachev, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991; the 2000 Kursk tragedy; the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.  And now, even among those observers who thought that they understood Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, this summer’s events – the protests in Khabarovsk, Russia’s struggle with COVID, its weakened economy, Putin’s falling popularity, and the attempted murder (using Novichok, a chemical weapon and nerve agent) of opposition leader Alexei Navalny – can easily leave one with a sense of despair, and of both Putin’s and Russia’s tragic lost potential, and wondering what might have been.

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+


Related Articles

Search

Close