There was an interesting piece this morning on The Current (CBC) with Bill Browder. It can be heard on:
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2443180896
(start around 16:25 min on the voice band)
Unfortunately, both Bill Browder and Anna Maria Tremonti do not try to see the whole canvas which Putin is filling up with with ostensibly disjointed points and patches. Like most Western observers, they do not understand that Putin has a vision of Russia, Russia's place in world affairs and his own role in Russian history. This vision was expressed in Putin's sincere declaration that the "greatest world tragedy of the 20th century was the breakup of the Soviet Union." Putin has set himself the goal to right this "historical wrong", and in this perspective Crimea is not a goal in itself but just a step to the reintegration of all of Ukraine.
Browder's explanation for Putin's invasion of Crimea misses this main point:
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Browder:
Putin’s reason for annexing Crimea:
“I don’t think there is any ideology behind
this at all. In my understanding of the situation Vladimir Putin understands
how to keep popularity. He became popular and was elected as president when he
started a war in Chechnia, and his popularity started to wane in recent years
because the economy was not doing well in Russia and because of all the
corruption. And so I believe he started this war purely and only to make sure
he didn’t get overthrown the way Yanukovich did. I think this is purely a way
for him to stay in power because people were unhappy with him and unhappy with
the corruption. And I think its what works. If you look at the poll ratings in
Russian right now his poll rating has jumped to the highest level in the last
three or four years. He has like 75 to 80 %. And he has done that, he has done
this war for that purpose. And if you believe this theory then it means that
he’s not going to back down because this is his only survival mechanism: his
keeping the war going, keeping the nationalist fervor going so he can stay in
power.“
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