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.
Putin’s Dangerous New Era
People who have briefed Putin have said, over the years, that when he has his advisers around and people put forward theories of what’s going on, he always goes for the most extreme conspiracy theory.
Putin’s New “War on Traitors”
Disturbed by a protest movement that briefly seemed formidable and a slowing economy, Putin turned to a mishmash of nationalism, conservative values, Russian Orthodoxy, and a fear of the corrupting influence of the degenerate West. If his first decade in power had been justified by a growing economy and improved living standards, then his third term would be justified by the grandeur of historical destiny.
.. The need for enemies is obvious: to rally the patriotic masses for the struggle that lies ahead. The idea of a fifth column, Zubov said—he presumes himself to be considered among its members—is to show that those who disagree with the state are not “political opponents in the political arena” but “enemies who naturally have to be isolated; you have to fight them until they are all exhausted.”
.. A new Web site called predatel.net—the word means “traitor”—has recently launched, featuring a list of public figures that the site’s anonymous creators deem to have betrayed Russia, whether by criticizing the annexation of Crimea or by supporting Western sanctions. As the site’s short manifesto puts it, “We believe that Russian citizens who insult our soldiers and who cast doubt on the need to fight neo-Nazis are traitors, no matter whether they are talented journalists, writers, and directors.” The site has a form for users to “suggest a traitor.”
Russia Is Restarting Stalin’s National Fitness Program
But the lock-step nature of the parades and stadium events, with uniformed young people forming a giant Soviet star on the playing field, revealed that there was always more to the games than just sports. The slogan of the GTO was “Your Motherland Calls for You to Be Ready for Work and Defense” and the program helped create the sense that the country was in a state of perpetual mobilization throughout the Cold War.