How Did We Get to Mr. Putin?

In October 1956, the Poles liberalized their politics and faced down the Russians. It was a hopeful moment. But without matching change in Russia it inevitably fizzled out. Then in March, 1989 Gorbachev introduced some real democracy in the Soviet Union. It was the first color revolution. The Polish elections followed in June. By December Eastern Europe was free.

But then the Warsaw Pact fell apart and the Soviet Union collapsed in what Putin, his circle and many Russians considered a geopolitical catastrophe, triggered by a protracted Western campaign of political warfare which is being pursued against Russia to this day. He is determined not to let it happen again. That may be paranoia. But it is not hard to understand.

But is the West’s response equally paranoid? Do we exaggerate the threat from Putin and so play into his hands? Are we in a new Cold War? What lessons can we draw from the past in coping with the recent and current crises?

Sir Rodric Braithwaite has served in HM Diplomatic Service, with postings in Jakarta, Warsaw, Moscow, Rome, Brussels (British delegation to the European Community) and Washington. From 1988-92 was Great Britain’s Ambassador in Moscow. Other appointments included Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.

Sir Rodric has had a number of academic appointments, including time as a Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford; Honorary Fellow, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge; and as Visiting Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1994.

His books include, : Armageddon and Paranoia: The Nuclear Confrontation (2017); Across the Moscow River: The World Turned Upside Down (2002); Moscow 1941: A City and Its People at War (2002); Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–89 (2011). He makes regular contributions to The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The New Statesman, Prospect Magazine, The Evening Standard, and Survival.