David Remnick: “Like many growing old autocrats, Putin has, through the years, remained himself, most effective extra so: extra envious, extra remoted, extra repressive, extra ruthless. He operates in an airless political setting, freed from opposite recommend. His stagecraft — seating overseas guests on the reverse finish of a twenty-foot-long desk, humiliating safety chiefs in entrance of tv cameras — is a mix of ‘Triumph of the Will’ and ‘The Nice Dictator.’”
“However there may be not anything comedian within the efficiency of his place of business. As Putin spills blood throughout Ukraine and threatens to destabilize Europe, Russians themselves stand to lose immeasurably. The ruble and the Russian inventory marketplace have cratered. However Putin does no longer care. His eyes are mounted on issues a long way grander than the well-being of his other folks. He’s in complete command of the biggest military in Europe, and, as he has reminded the arena, of an immense arsenal of nuclear guns. In his thoughts, that is his second, his triumphal ancient drama, and rattling the associated fee.”