What Putin Cares About Most

The democratic West’s confrontation with Putin seems to have reached a point beyond ordinary calculation. We look for political or economic reasons for the conflict and weigh political and economic options for ending it. But the options seem not to hold much promise. Sanctions? More severe sanctions? Threats of war-crime proceedings? Encouragement to the Russian people to take to the street in protest? Putting pressure on the oligarchs or on the Russian military command? Or perhaps we might broker a deal promising concessions on Crimea or the Donbas? Sadly, Putin’s response to any of these possibilities seems likely to be the same—greater ferocity, increased indiscriminate death even for his own troops, and heightened nuclear threats. Indeed, Putin seems to eat threats up and spit them out. Read Full Article »