Contributing columnistPresident Vladimir Putin has carefully crafted an image as a strong man of action — one whose will and power have single-handedly restored Russia’s status as a great power. Nearly every single short-term Putin achievement has undermined a long-term Putin objective. Yet by annexing Crimea and invading eastern Ukraine, Putin guaranteed forever that Ukraine will never join his economic club. In violating American sovereignty to help candidate Trump in 2016, Putin did achieve a central Russian foreign policy objective (as defined by Putin) of weakening American leadership in the world. The Russian Orthodox Church will lose roughly a third of its followers in a fissure that some are calling the biggest blow to Christian unity since 1054.

Source: Washington Post December 17, 2018 20:26 UTC