Crimea: Putin’s Olympic diversion
We will not know the truth about why Putin decided to intervene in Ukraine unless or until Russian archives are opened decades from now. Even then, in any country, it is notoriously difficult to find proof that a leader took foreign military action for domestic reasons. It is not the kind of thing that anyone is likely to admit in writing. But the fact that Putin’s moves in Crimea do not really further Russia’s long-term interests indicates that something else is in play.