As a side note, a few years ago I read “From Cold War to Hot Peace”(2018), by Michael McFaul, who had been Obama’s ambassador to Russia. He was very diplomatic in his writing, being careful not to burn any bridges. But the one thing he practically shouted to his readers was “Don’t trust Putin!!!”. Putin came up through the KGB, his buddi…
As a side note, a few years ago I read “From Cold War to Hot Peace”(2018), by Michael McFaul, who had been Obama’s ambassador to Russia. He was very diplomatic in his writing, being careful not to burn any bridges. But the one thing he practically shouted to his readers was “Don’t trust Putin!!!”. Putin came up through the KGB, his buddies are former KGB, he owes favors to former KGB, and he is ruthless!
Putin was KGB, but he was not one of that agency's brightest lights.
He's never been even clever in the manner of Stalin or Kruschev, and certainly has never had the bureaucratic fluency of Brezhnev.
In poker the least reliable and frequently most dangerous player is the fish who does not know how to bluff or read other players. Putin is nothing if not a bad poker player.
As a side note, a few years ago I read “From Cold War to Hot Peace”(2018), by Michael McFaul, who had been Obama’s ambassador to Russia. He was very diplomatic in his writing, being careful not to burn any bridges. But the one thing he practically shouted to his readers was “Don’t trust Putin!!!”. Putin came up through the KGB, his buddies are former KGB, he owes favors to former KGB, and he is ruthless!
Putin was KGB, but he was not one of that agency's brightest lights.
He's never been even clever in the manner of Stalin or Kruschev, and certainly has never had the bureaucratic fluency of Brezhnev.
In poker the least reliable and frequently most dangerous player is the fish who does not know how to bluff or read other players. Putin is nothing if not a bad poker player.