Putin May Be Dying — And Ukraine is His Legacy

Technically, we’re all dying — some faster than others. So where does legacy fit in?

A strange thing happened when I turned 40 — I started having thoughts about legacy that I had never had before. I used to joke about my pending midlife crisis by telling people that I was going to start having affairs, grow a pot belly and a mustache, and then go buy a Corvette.

But most of all, I started thinking about legacy. What am I leaving behind? 100 years from now, will anybody remember my name?

After studying Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin for the better part of 20 years, both for my job in the U.S. military and as a hobby, I watched his slow buildup on the Ukraine border with mild concern.

“Good ole Putin is at it again; always trying to bluff and bully his neighbors into submission.”

But this time, something was different.

This wasn’t sending “little green men” into the Donbas under the guise of maskirovka, or the annexation of key land on the Black Sea.

This was a proper invasion force.

Up until the minute Putin gave the order to cross the Ukrainian border, I would have felt confident that his posturing was just that — a show of force to get a better negotiating position.

But I was dead wrong. It never occurred to me that Putin might be taking action based on thoughts of legacy, perhaps brought on by some impending illness.