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The Crisis in Ukraine Proves That Vladimir Putin Believes He is the New Tsar of Russia
And he wants a return of the Russian Empire
As the world anxiously waits to see if Russian troops will indeed invade Ukraine, news channels have been engaged in minute-by-minute reporting of every development, whether large, small, or simply perceived. The United States and NATO have issued often contradictory statements, sometimes on the same day, that range from the hopeful (“there is still a diplomatic path forward”) to the blatantly alarmist (“our intelligence shows that Russia will invade on Wednesday”). For the record, that warning meant Wednesday, February 16, or two days ago; thankfully, they were wrong about that one.
It’s not the only thing our intelligence services and media outlets have been wrong about since the buildup of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border began late last year. One of the areas they have all been most wrong about involves Russian President Vladimir Putin and his true motives for stoking this crisis in the first place. As with anything to do with both Putin and Russia, it’s complicated.
Officially, the Russian government has concerns about the possible expansion of NATO into yet another country on its border. The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have long been part of…
