WTF were you thinking Putin?
I am really struggling to imagine what is going on in Putin’s world to think that it’s ok declaring war on a neighbour with who you share a long history.
It is like an adult beating up their kid cousin because they don’t like who the kid is hanging out with. This is bullying on the grandest scale.
When I see pictures of Ukrainians huddling in the subway or the women and children pouring out of the country, I watch in bewilderment. I get this is not unique and we’ve seen similar scenes in Afghanistan, Syria, and other countries. But those conflicts are typically instigated by people within their country. It’s like family infighting. Not that it makes the outcomes any different, but we are more familiar with this type of conflict and probably more accepting of it because of that familiarity.
Here we have what Putin describes as a ‘special military operation’ - which is akin to calling a car a four-wheel motorised vehicle. Russian soldiers are being sent to invade another country - destroying people and property at the orders of their government. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck. Russia has declared war on a neighbouring country and that we find shocking.
I had thought this sort of behaviour had been consigned to the history books, and we had all grown up enough to realise that war is incredibly unhealthy on a whole lot of levels - meaning in this day and age no one in their right mind would go there.
The latest headline is Putin has put his country’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert in response to “aggressive statements” by Nato countries. If you ever wanted an example of megalomania, it doesn’t get much more accurate and extreme than this. Arrogance and delusion are proving to be very dangerous bedfellows. You couple that with the keys to a superpower, and we have a very large runaway train.
I‘ve been wondering why I am so appalled by this invasion, more so than when I’ve seen the plights of Syrian or Aghan refugees, or similar - as the fear, disruption, and displacement has often been worse than what we see unfolding here. And then it struck me. It’s because the Ukrainians are more like me. I can identify more easily with their world. Whereas I find it more difficult to imagine normal life in Kabul or Damascus than in a European city. This is reflected in the extensive media coverage and first-world outrage. Birds of a feather. Our brains are not logical. This is a reminder of how we like the new and shocking, and how we naturally care more about people with who we bear greater similarities. Putin’s antics will take the spotlight off other humanitarian crises happening in the world, but it shouldn’t.
They say that history will not judge Putin kindly. That may be so, but the planet he seems to be living on is very different from everyone else’s (apart from his sycophant aides and dependent oligarchs!). I have tried to put myself in his shoes to understand planet Putin, which included spending time trawling RT (a state-sponsored news channel which “acquaints international audiences with a Russian viewpoint on major global events”). Nothing I read convinced me his actions are in any way justifiable. Where’s Jason Bourne when you need him?
I believe that all people deep down want to do good. It is usually circumstances that define how well we express it. But I struggle to see the circumstances that have led a small number of successful and educated people to believe that destroying the lives and livelihoods of innocent people is ok. This just does not compute. My only conclusion is Putin must feel a massive amount of paranoia to take this path. I’m glad I don’t inhabit his world. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him wearing a tinfoil hat to protect himself from covid ray guns!
My hope is Putin realises he cannot ignore public opinion forever. That the Russian people manage to scale his mountain of conceit and get through to him. But I’m certainly not putting the house on it. But with any luck, Boris has got MI6 involved and Bond is already on the job.
