Tom Friedman in the NYT: "Putin to Ukraine: ‘Marry Me or I’ll Kill You’"

Tom Friedman - who can be very insightful when not talking about American politics - nails the Russian dictator. Sent to me by my buddy Paul. Well worth hitting the link for the whole op ed.

Why is Vladimir Putin threatening to take another bite out of Ukraine, after devouring Crimea in 2014? That is not an easy question to answer because Putin is a one-man psychodrama, with a giant inferiority complex toward America that leaves him always stalking the world with a chip on his shoulder so big it’s amazing he can fit through any door.

Let’s see: Putin is a modern-day Peter the Great out to restore the glory of Mother Russia. He’s a retired K.G.B. agent who simply refuses to come in from the cold and still sees the C.I.A. under every rock and behind every opponent. He’s America’s ex-boyfriend-from-hell, who refuses to let us ignore him and date other countries, like China — because he always measures his status in the world in relation to us. And he’s a politician trying to make sure he wins (or rigs) Russia’s 2024 election — and becomes president for life — because when you’ve siphoned off as many rubles as Putin has, you can never be sure that your successor won’t lock you up and take them all. For him, it’s rule or die.

Somewhere in the balance of all of those identities and neuroses is the answer to what Putin intends to do with Ukraine.

If I were a cynic, I’d just tell him to go ahead and take Kyiv because it would become his Kabul, his Afghanistan — but the human costs would be intolerable. Short of that, I’d be very clear: If he wants to come down from the tree in which he’s lodged himself, he’s going to have to jump or build his own ladder. He has completely contrived this crisis, so there should be no give on our part. China is watching — and Taiwan is sweating — everything we do in reaction to Vlad right now.

Comments

[antigon]

Not convinced schoolyard taunts qualify as insight, TF, any more than Friedman's ever predictable war-mongering (for other people's sons), sans exception.
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The solution to this extremely dangerous situation is simple enough, to wit: the U.S. government (so to speak) should reiterate State Secretary Baker's 1991 assurances to Russia that NATO would not expand eastward.
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That done, problem solved, despite how unahppy t'would make the likes of swine like Friedman.

[tom faranda]

Problem solved? Be nice if it were that easy.

[antigon]

Nicer than war (to Friedman's dismay) at any rate; not to mention the nuclear sort.

[tom faranda]

Indeed. My latest post.

Yay! Nuclear armed countries say they won't blow each other up.

https://tomfaranda.typepad.com/folly/2022/01/yay-nuclear-armed-counries-say-they-wont-blow-each-other-up.html