Muammar Gaddafi deployed a clever strategy to make sure he was always in the minds of leaders and ordinary citizens around the world: he pretended to be unhinged to confuse and frighten his adversaries. Lately Vladimir Putin seems to have adopted a similar strategy, appearing alternately depressed, out of touch with reality, or else disappearing altogether. Call it his antic disposition.
“There’s a rationale in being perceived as unpredictable,” says a recently-departed Moscow ambassador, who also knew Putin in St Petersburg. “Russian state television is aiding Putin by creating an atmosphere of collective psychosis. The Russian strategy is to scare the …read more
Source: Newsweek
