A close reading of the philosopher Alexander Dugin’s work offers an answer to the central question of the war in Ukraine, one that, after three years, has still not been adequately addressed: Just why did Vladimir Putin want to conquer the country?
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@newyorker.com @fareedzakaria.bsky.social @nytimes.com The good news if there is any in these dark times is that Russia despite their nuclear arsenal is a paper tiger. Had Biden given Ukraine the offensive weapons they requested we wouldn’t have Trump shaking down Zelenskyy now.
Has not been adequately addressed? I mean, he was talking about how he feels Ukraine isn’t an independent country for decades and is really part of Russia but yeah, we totally don’t know why he invaded
Putin did not think there would be a war. He lined up all his forces on the border to intimidate Ukraine, thinking they would roll over. He went to war because he did not want to look weak.
Why? Because Putin was out of the country when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state, and witness to the creation of newly established states.
Many thanks for this, New Yorker; given that Musk has been quoting Dugan directly these past few months, it is a relief to finally see a more mainstream publication explore Dugan’s twisted “philosophy”
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Putin is trying to ‘reestablish’ the USSR.