Putin often uses his judo background for politics.
In the domestic and foreign policy arenas, he constantly bulks up his opponents and probes for physical and psychological weaknesses.
In the domestic and foreign policy arenas, he constantly bulks up his opponents and probes for physical and psychological weaknesses.
Putin always loves to test his opponents to see if they mean what they say: will they also be prepared to fight, and fight to the end?
If they are not, then he will exploit their empty threats to show them up, intimidate, deter, and defeat them.
If they are not, then he will exploit their empty threats to show them up, intimidate, deter, and defeat them.
If Putin's opponents are prepared to fight, and he is outweighed or outgunned by his adversaries, then he will look for unconventional moves that get around their defenses so that he can outmaneuver them.
In judo you can win on points over the course of a series of matches even if you are far smaller than your opponent and lose some of the individual rounds.
The Kremlin works very hard at making Putin as inscrutable and unpredictable as possible.
Access to Russian president is strictly limited. His image is carefully branded and rebranded. His appearances and public pronouncements are highly orchestrated and well-prepared.
Access to Russian president is strictly limited. His image is carefully branded and rebranded. His appearances and public pronouncements are highly orchestrated and well-prepared.
Putin's appaerances timed for maximum effect so that his audiences will hang on his every word—looking for any indication of what he might think, or what he might do next, while his circle maintains an almost complete unity of silence.
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