Russia v Ukraine

[FairmontGS]

Inside Putin’s head: Paranoid? Calculating? Obsessed by the conspiracy theories of a rehabilitated Russian fascist?

Putin has raised the alert status of Russia’s nuclear weapons, to the astonishment of foreign policy experts in the West. It is a great gamble and risks not only accident but retaliation for relatively minor setbacks in the war in Ukraine. Not since the Cold War has such an apocalyptic threat existed.

To try to figure out the psychology of a leader is a daunting task, especially when dealing with one who plays his cards close to his chest as Putin. He could simply be raising the alert status of Russia’s nuclear weapons as an extension of his propaganda campaign—in other words, a huge act of misinformation. To the extent this is true, it would be best for the United States not to overreact. Raising the alert status of our own weapons, for example, could well heighten the risk of a nuclear accident.

The more ominous conclusion, however, that we draw from our observation of Putin’s behavior is that it fits logically into what appears to be a disintegration of his personality.

https://thebulletin.org/2022/03/insi...ssian-fascist/