There is no hyperbole in asserting Vladimir Putin is currently the most dangerous man on earth. Leader of a country with nuclear weapons, he shows no reluctance to threaten to use them. But what prompted the Kremlin's leader to embark, without provocation, on the invasion of neighboring Ukraine, killing its people and leaving a path of destruction across what was a relatively peaceful country? When Russia's president explained in numerous speeches, including a 5,000-word essay, what he was going to do, the nonchalance with which the West greeted his words has brought the world to where it is.
Vladimir Putin (Photo by Kremlin Press Service/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
On July 12, 2021, the Kremlin published "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians." In his walk down memory lane describing the relationship between Russia and Ukraine over several centuries, Putin relates a personal perspective on Kyiv's past ties to Moscow. As David Starkey, the British populist historian explained in his YouTube video, "Putin's Power & Western Impotence," the Russian president's portrayal of the evolution of the landmass now known as Ukraine is essentially accurate.
A succinct description is that the geography between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea has been fought over by various empires, divided, and reunited into myriad government entities. Until 1922, following World War I, Ukraine emerged as a geographically stable quasi-state. The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic came into being as part of the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR). There are differences in points of view as to the benefits for Ukrainians derived from the USSR association. "The right for the republics to freely secede from the Union was included in the text of the Declaration on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and, subsequently, in the 1924 USSR Constitution," Putin wrote, pointing to what he saw as a virtue in a failed regime. That "right" did not work out well for Hungary in 1957 or for Czechoslovakia in 1968.
As the Russian president rambles through Bolshevik history, he dismisses the horrors visited on "republics" unfortunate enough to be a part of the USSR. "They do not miss a chance; however, both inside the country and abroad, to condemn 'the crimes of the Soviet regime,' listing among them events the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union), nor the USSR, let alone modern Russia, have anything to do," Putin explained. He conveniently left out Stalin purposefully starving over three million Ukrainians between 1932 and 1933. A "holocaust by famine," as Starkey call it. Then, after extolling the merits of the benevolent Bolsheviks, the Russian leader starts to lay the foundation for why Russia must intervene to save Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Putin wrote in his monograph about the "single economic systems" developed between Russia and Ukraine over the last 30 years and the "profound cooperation" the European Union should "look up to." The Kremlin's strongman builds the case that Ukraine "used to possess great potential," but all that potential has disappeared. "Is it the people of Ukraine's fault? Certainly not. It was the Ukrainian authorities who waisted and frittered away the achievements of many generations." So, why is Putin killing the people? He wrote that Ukraine was being "dragged into a dangerous geopolitical game aimed at turning Ukraine into a barrier between Europe and Russia, a springboard against Russia."
Putin invokes the close cultural and spiritual ties between Ukraine and Russia that cannot be broken. "Our kinship has been transmitted from generation to generation," he said. In the end, he builds the case for Russia as the victim of an anti-Russian project, "aggressive rhetoric, indulging neo-Nazis and militarizing the country." He explained that the anti-Russian project is "simply unacceptable for many people in Ukraine." He concludes his paper with the unmistakable threat. "[W]e will never allow our historical territories and people close to us living there to be used against Russia. And to those who will undertake such an attempt, I would like to say that this way they will destroy their own country." He sees the sovereignty of Ukraine existing "only in partnership with Russia."
"And I will say one thing – Russia has never been and will never be 'anti-Ukraine.' And what Ukraine will be – it is up to its citizens to decide," he said ending his paper. For whatever historical accuracy Putin provided leading up to Russia's current attack on Ukraine, this final statement, considering the carnage he’s caused, is laughable. The inevitable question is what motivates Vladimir Putin to build this fiction and act upon it. The answer is he believes he has the military power and the prowess of his presence among international peers to do what he wants. Additionally, he believes his geopolitical opponents, NATO, the European Union, and the US, are so pathetically weak and feckless as to pose no effective opposition.
Again, from Starkey, "Putin, unlike us, understands power. Power and the role of force. We thought you could dispense with it. He knows you can't." The Russian leader translated his understanding of power into making his military a modern, technically sophisticated force over the last 20 years. And despite what may appear to be Russian troops getting the worst of Ukraine resistance, the Russian despot knows that, left unchecked, his power will prevail. He knows that threatening nuclear war will "escalate to de-escalate" because the West will be cowed. As unfortunate and disturbing as it may be, Putin appears to have the measure of his opponents.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
~ Read more from Dave Patterson.
