A stranger to many things, Putin is no stranger to awkwardness—and we’re not just talking about most meetings with fellow world leaders.
Standing beside the dictator of Syria is in Russia’s interest and, in fairness, America has propped up its share of despotic leaders. Our alternatives haven’t worked so well either: paving one hell of a road with well-intentioned democracies in Iraq and Libya.
Russia’s strategy of subversion and denial (while overtly benefitting from it and enjoying the implicit association) perhaps works on a small scale, but can blow up in their face on large ones.
For example, the poisonings of Viktor Yushchenko, Alexander Litvinenko, and Vladimir Kara-Murza are one thing. But recent indiscriminate chemical attacks in Syria create a tough association. Gassing women and children? You can deny it, but you’ll need a pretty good PR firm. The accountability to Russia holds—especially after having guaranteed removal of chemical weapons of their Syrian allies—as being complicit at the very least.
The dots connect an ominous pattern: it’s not enough to just kill opponents, but also in a brutally painful manner. The poisonings and chemical attacks leave telling fingerprints of an ego that requires recognition.
While Putin’s always been a sucker for getting medieval, Game of Thrones works better as just a show. A bully is someone who feels better by making others look bad. If Putin enjoys making himself look better by executing these agonizing deaths, what does that make him?
For all the shifty maneuvering, these strongman traits are cliche. Putin may be right that the world could use a counterweight to America’s mighty influence, but provides nothing but a shoddy, backwards alternative.
