Restoration of a Glorious Past or Recapitulation of an Ignominious One: The Unexpected Consequences of Vladimir Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine
The threat of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO and thus removing it from Moscow’s influence prompted Vladimir Putin to act before it was too late. His plan was to launch a blitzkrieg-style invasion of Ukraine, occupy the “wayward” former Russian possession, install a puppet regime, and continue his long-term plan to “Make Russia Great Again”, i.e., to restore the large and strong empire of the Soviet era but with the trappings of earlier imperial power. At least, that’s how it seems to have been playing out in his mind. Now, his plans appear to be blowing up in his face. Putin has famously called the collapse or dissolution of the Soviet Union, “the greatest geopolitical calamity of the twentieth century.” In a matter of months, Moscow’s empire had retreated from its apogee as the Soviet Union, with its post-WWII Warsaw Pact buffer, extending its control well into central Europe, as well as control or influence over Mongolia and...