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| What do your elven eyes see, Vlad? |
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And so begins the narrative that I will be analyzing this semester. Mr. Putin: Operation in the Kremlin by Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy seeks to create not a biography, but a psychological portrait of the leader of the Russian Federation in order to discover the reasons for his beliefs and often aggressive actions. I chose this work because international relations and diplomacy are two things that fascinate me and that I really want to know more about. I think that Russia's foreign policy and actions throughout history and in the present are often hard for us to understand, especially with an enigmatic leader like Vladimir Putin, but that it's important for us to study as a country in order to augment our own foreign policy and ways in which we interact in the international community. In the first chapter, the authors focus on providing background for Russia's takeover of the Crimean region of Ukraine last year as well as a bit of basic information on Vladimir Putin to set the stage for a deeper look into his psyche.
The trouble with Crimea stems back to the Bolsheviks, who placed conquered lands in the Soviet republic of Ukraine. In 1954, Nikita Krushchev decided to transfer Crimea to Ukraine, where it was left as a Russian-speaking entity after the fall of the Soviet state in 1991. Putin's post-Olympic speech called Crimea a "lost province" that needed to be taken back and came following several months of political upheaval in Ukraine. Over 100 people died following protests in Ukraine against the decision made by Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych not to sign the association agreement with the European Union. Ukraine was then taken over by an interim government after Yanukovych fled the country. A referendum on independence and the prospect of joining Russia was held, resulting in 97% of voters expressing a desire to unite with Russia. Putin then used this referendum to justify his annexation of Crimea, turning Russia into a revisionist power.
Following the context of the issue at hand, the authors delve into their study of Putin's reasoning and behavioral patterns. According to Zachary Shore, previous behavioral patterns can rarely be used to determine how someone will act in the future. Instead, it is important to look at pattern breaks because they make one focus on the invariant aspects of the person's self. One idea that has gained some following since the Crimea affair is that Putin has a lowered sense of danger and enjoys taking risks. Part of this could be a carefully constructed persona in order to perpetrate Richard Nixon's "Madman Theory"- the idea that if other nations believe you, as a leader, are unstable and willing to do anything to get your way, they will be more likely to cooperate with you.
The authors first introduce a set of three different identities held by Mr. Putin to explain his goals-the Statist, the History Man, and the Survivalist. The next three identities-the Outsider, the Free Marketer, and the Case Officer mostly describe how he goes about achieving the ends he desires. These identities will be further explored in later chapters.
The authors also note that while some commentators view Putin's coming into power as a catalyst that upset a positive trajectory of Post-Soviet Russia, Putin himself sees the state of Russia prior to his presidency as a downward spiral caused by many mistakes by Russian politicians before him. He seems to see himself as a savior of sorts for the Russian people, a not-so-uncommon belief among authoritarian leaders. The details of his view of himself and his role as the Russian president will be analyzed further in the book to reveal his goals, ideas, and ultimately, his reasons for why he has made the decisions he has made so far. Thanks for reading!
