Putin's War on Ukraine: A Game-Changer for the Cause of Democracy?

In the epilogue to the 2021 paperback edition of Strongmen, I singled out Putin as vulnerable due to the economic and moral toll of his kleptocracy and the increasing disaffection of a new generation of Russians who, like their cohort around the world, want freedom and social, economic, and environmental justice.

Putin's aggression against Ukraine is a grave miscalculation on his part and could be a game-changer for the cause of democracy.

It has created a new level of solidarity of foreign leaders and elites with Ukraine. Look at the pivot Germany has made since the start of the conflict, finally deciding not to certify the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. It has reminded millions of the importance of NATO, which Putin and other far-right leaders, former President Donald Trump included, do their best to discredit.

It has shown the myriad ways foreign countries can support one another. They can send military and other aid, share intelligence, block shipments of essential technology, as Taiwan is doing with semiconductors, or close their air space to Russian airlines, as Lithuania has done  

And it has birthed a new leader of the forces of global democracy: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He has shown courage and resolve in the face of the crisis. The video he released to counter Russian disinformation about him fleeing Ukraine shows respect for those he governs.

That's the opposite of how strongmen operate. Putin is just the latest despot to scorn his people, lying to Russians, stealing from them, and killing them without a second thought, including by sending them into a senseless war. Russia will likely come out of this experience a changed country, and Putin may have shortened his time in office by acting out of paranoia and delusions of grandeur.