Putin’s Attack on Ukraine Shows the Danger of Believing Your Own Hype

The Russian invasion of Ukraine reveals a surprising truth about Russia’s conventional military forces: they are not nearly as formidable as Putin (and the West) believed.

In the 1990s, Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton blew the opportunity of a lifetime to assist in shaping the former Soviet Union into a functioning democracy. But understandably, they could not overcome their aversion to helping a former enemy. Instead, the West gave Russia an official capitalist card, said “Welcome to the club!”, and told the new Russian Federation to figure democracy out on their own.

Note: For an incredibly detailed breakdown of how the U.S. “created” Putin by treating Russia more like a vanquished enemy than a new ally, as well as expanding NATO in 1999, after promising we wouldn’t, check out Vladimir Pozner’s speech at Yale University.

Even the tricky dick himself, Richard Nixon, warned Bush Sr. in 1992 to help Russia with its transition or face the consequences later. In a remarkable bit of foresight, Nixon warned us about the power vacuum in Russia being filled by an autocrat if the U.S. didn’t step up.