[TreesAndBirds]

Interesting article in Foreign Affairs by a Russian diplomat who recently resigned and moved to the West.

In short….

Putin lives in an echo chamber and this is dangerous (no surprise).

Western sanctions have had more effect than generally understood. They have really hurt the Russian military.

Ukraine should not think that a reasonable negotiated resolution with Putin is possible. 

Last, and most interesting to me, he believes the demise of Russia’s efforts to liberalize in the 90s was due in part to the failure of the West to sufficiently support Russia’s transition with economic and other aid, and as the people’s lives became worse under democracy the appeal of authoritarian government grew. He encourages the West to be thinking more about the end game here…that this is about more than Ukraine, but possibly providing Russia with an alternative approach to global interactions.  


https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russian-f...s-bondarev

[TreesAndBirds]

Interesting article in Foreign Affairs by a Russian diplomat who recently resigned and moved to the West.

In short….

Putin lives in an echo chamber and this is dangerous (no surprise).

Western sanctions have had more effect than generally understood. They have really hurt the Russian military.

Ukraine should not think that a reasonable negotiated resolution with Putin is possible. 

Last, and most interesting to me, he believes the demise of Russia’s efforts to liberalize in the 90s was due in part to the failure of the West to sufficiently support Russia’s transition with economic and other aid, and as the people’s lives became worse under democracy the appeal of authoritarian government grew. He encourages the West to be thinking more about the end game here…that this is about more than Ukraine, but possibly providing Russia with an alternative approach to global interactions.  


https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russian-f...s-bondarev