Putin is a good tactician and great at spotting opportunities. But Putin is a lousy strategist. Long term he is weakening Russia's position to a point were breakup is a real possibility. Don't forget that.
Putin couldn't manage Yanukovych so Ukraine was lost and as revenge Putin made sure the most pro-Russian voters would lose their influence in Ukrainian politics.
Instead of mediating Lukashenka's departure Putin went all in to support him, which will eventually make the friendly Belarusians turn against Putin and Russia.
By neglecting the needs of his own people chances are that large parts of Russians will associate Moscow with corruption and instead turn to local nationalistic leaders, in Tatarstan and other republics for example.
By only thinking about himself Putin has neglected succession. Many in his entourage has been around for a long time, new blood is missing. There is a real possibility of power vacuum and internal disorder when Putin leaves.
If Russia will go through a period with weak leadership after Putin leaves domestic and foreign opponents might see an opportunity to settle the score, and keep in mind Russia has no friends in the world.
If Russia will evacuate the occupied territories and pull back its troops posted abroad there will be many disgruntled people coming home, people whose only competence is violence. Russia might experience the 90s all over.

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More from @andersostlund

Jan 28
Germany's original sin is that didn't use all its powers to push back against aggression from the very beginning. It should have learnt this lesson after WWII.
ft.com/content/25b54d…
Where Germany got the idea about a strategic partnership with Russia from is also a mystery to me. My Mother always told me to never associate with criminals. Germany should have known this too. It was obvious what kind of Putin is even before he became president.
Further, even if Germany liked to see Nord Stream 1 and 2 as commercial energy projects it was obvious they were Molotov - Ribbentrop part II for Russia. A knife is lethal even if it can also be used to cut potatoes.
Read 8 tweets
Jan 28
Americans, and others, who claim that Russian speakers in Ukraine are pro-Russia because of the language they speak should ask why English speakers in America revolted against England and created the United States. Because it's about ideology and belonging, not language.
Then look at ethnicity. How many of the Americans who revolted against the English were ethic Englishmen? I bet a large part of the supporters of American independence were ethic Englishmen, so why did they revolt? Because was not about ethnicity, it was about ideology.
Americans typically identify along certain shared values and are proud to call themselves Americans. Despite this I have met many Americans who express pride in their heritage. Was JFK foremost an Irishman or an American? Heritage is one thing, current identification another.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 27
Putin is being compared with Hitler also by German politicians now.
"Putin is using the same arguments for protecting people in other countries as Hitler did."
- The foreign policy speaker for CDU in the German Parliament, @juergenhardt.
@juergenhardt Interesting discussion between the foreign policy spokespersons in CDU and SPD. I like what I hear.
ardmediathek.de/video/phoenix-…
That @OlafScholz is quiet and not visiting allies to confirm Germany's position is criticized.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 26
'Dialogue' must be the most useless term in international politics now. Who ever suggested cutting phone lines, internet, diplomatic relations and international platforms? Maybe 'dialogue' is the new 'concerned', a word to show I read the memo but wont act on it.
'Dialogue' is like walking into a shop to chat with the attendant with no purpose to buy anything. The attendant will lose interest in me soon enough. No, I go to the shop to buy something, the dialogue might be a part of the purchase process, but it's not the goal in itself.
Instead of saying "we must have dialogue" diplomats should say what they want to achieve, or at least know that themselves, before going into dialogue to achieve those preset goals.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 25
Global protests against the war in Iraq in 2003 were some of the largest the world has ever seen.
When Russia is about to attack Ukraine, the "peace" movement is completely silent. This phenomenon has to be scrutinized. Photo from London.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_Februa…
The COVID pandemic is a reason not to have street protests but there is plenty of space in media and online. But also there the "peace" movement is completely silent.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 23
Look at this one before analyzing German Russia policy. Putin address the German Parliament in 2001. As he ends the speech the MPs give him standing ovations. When Putin gave the speech he had just terror bombed a city in a way not seen since WWII.
First one can ask why a person who already qualify as a war criminal is invited to address the parliament? Then one can ask what kind of persons give a war criminal standing ovations?
The fact of the matter is that it was very well known what kind of person Putin was when he gave the speech and yet the MPs stood up and applauded. That's a very emotional response, to a person who had already committed crimes beyond the imaginable.
Read 9 tweets

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