OPINION: How Vladimir Putin got it all wrong
"In invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has made the biggest mistake of his 22-year career as leader of Russia," writes Middle East Eye's editor-in-chief David Hearst.
"Whether this was intended is another matter. It is now done, and cannot be undone. Putin’s power at home and abroad was to a large extent built on ambiguity and surprise. Plausible deniability was an art form in his hands.
"Russia was neither as weak nor as powerful as it seemed. Putin was neither as autocratic nor as liberal as he appeared. A small library of books was feverishly penned to uncover the real Putin. Ultimately the consensus settled on the word pragmatist…
"A fiscal conservative, he learned in power not to challenge the oligarchs, but become one of them. Just as long as they presented him with the right gifts like loyal boyars they were, he did not touch their assets. Yet it has only taken days for Putin the pragmatist to become Putin the war criminal, little more than a Milosevic or Karadzic. Ukraine has become a rerun of Kosovo in reverse.
"This, from Putin’s point of view, is a huge miscalculation. And we should never make the mistake of thinking that Putin is remotely moved by the bloodshed or human suffering he causes."
