Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

NatSecEdge
cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

The Core of Putin's Weakness

The Core of Putin's Weakness

Antique photograph of World's famous sites: Moscow

OPINION — In 2017, I wrote a short piece for Foreign Policy asking if Putin was more a product of his KGB background and personal circumstances, or whether he could be better described as acting in the longer cultural and historical tradition of Russian Tsars and Soviet Party bosses. I came down on the former explanation.

However, since that time, Putin has justified his actions – to include the invasion of Ukraine – in increasingly nationalist and historic terms. He has inveighed Russian myths and historical grievances, quoted chauvinist Russian philosophers and even claimed that Ukraine doesn’t exist, except as part of a greater historical Russia.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.
Watch Now

Related Articles

Ordinary Russians are Paying for Putin's Poor Alaska Performance

OPINION / EXPERT PERSPECTIVE – The Russian state media's triumphant coverage of Vladimir Putin's August 15 meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska tells [...] More

Ex-Spy Warns of Case Officer Tactics in Trump-Putin Dynamic

EXPERT Q&A – After Friday’s meeting in Alaska between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, former CIA senior officer and [...] More

​The Weekend Interview: Former CIA Station Chief on Strategic Global Hotspots

​The Weekend Interview: Former CIA Station Chief on Strategic Global Hotspots

WEEKEND INTERVIEW: The signing of a peace framework between the President of Armenia and the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan on Friday at the White [...] More

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Russia has been bombarding Ukrainian cities with massive aerial assaults, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged [...] More

How Trump Can Be the Winning President in Ukraine

“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special [...] More

NATO Lures Trump Back - at a Cost

NATO Lures Trump Back - at a Cost

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – The stakes at this week’s NATO summit were sky-high – support for Ukraine, a shoring up of Europe’s defenses, and the [...] More