https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/stephen-kotkin-putin-…
**The Weakness of the Despot**
**An expert on Stalin discusses Putin, Russia, and the West.**
**By David Remnick, The New Yorker, March 11, 2022**
**An interview with Stephen Kotkin**
**...**
**What we have today in Russia is not some kind of surprise. It’s not some kind of deviation from a historical pattern. Way before NATO existed—in the nineteenth century—Russia looked like this: it had an autocrat. It had repression. It had militarism. It had suspicion of foreigners and the West. This is a Russia that we know, and it’s not a Russia that arrived yesterday or in the nineteen-nineties. It’s not a response to the actions of the West. There are internal processes in Russia that account for where we are today....**
**Russia is a remarkable civilization: in the arts, music, literature, dance, film. In every sphere, it’s a profound, remarkable place — a whole civilization, more than just a country. At the same time, Russia feels that it has a “special place” in the world, a special mission. It’s Eastern Orthodox, not Western. And it wants to stand out as a great power. Its problem has always been not this sense of self or identity but the fact that its capabilities have never matched its aspirations. It’s always in a struggle to live up to these aspirations, but it can’t, because the West has always been more powerful....**
**The West is a series of institutions and values. The West is not a geographical place. Russia is European, but not Western. Japan is Western, but not European. “Western” means rule of law, democracy, private property, open markets, respect for the individual, diversity, pluralism of opinion, and all the other freedoms that we enjoy, which we sometimes take for granted. ...**
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Western Macroeconomics relies on the rule of law, sanctity of property and contracts, and voluntary win-win negotiations without the threat of violence.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is based on an ancient model of coercion and autocracy. Private property is held at the whim of the autocrat. The autocrat is concerned with maintaining power and control, not in providing for the population. The autocrat and upper echelons become rich by expropriation and corruption.
For the cynical METARs who will respond that U.S. economy is also corrupt – stand down! There’s a qualitative difference between corruption enforced by violence and corruption that is illegal and can be exposed and punished by a free press and free courts.
It’s possible that the economic sanctions on Russia will have no effect on Putin’s decisions at all. The motivations and rationale are orthoganol. Putin wants power and geographical expansion – to recreate the Russian empire. He doesn’t care if the people are suffering – Russian autocrats never do. The people have no way to change the regime.
Wendy