Imagine you’re Vladimir Putin. Former KGB big shot. You’ve got ambitions, and you’re smart, methodical, and ruthless enough to make yourself autocratic president for life of the largest country on earth. Give yourself a pat on the back.
You are also nuts. Sociopathic and psychotic, murder and mayhem are always on the “means to an end” menu. And contrary to what most people think, your autocracy fuels your nationalism, for you need an autocracy in order to make your nationalistic dreams become reality.
But NATO and the US have always stood in your way, despite all of your efforts via cyber and old school spying, efforts aimed at keeping your dream alive — to once again expand Russia into its former geopolitical footprint.
Enter Donald Trump. A buffoon, loud-mouthed, obnoxious, and seriously mentally unstable, so he will be easily manipulated, and easily controlled, and you see the opportunity you have waited decades for. Trump is the way in, the chink in the American armor, your best chance to finally realize your dream.
Trump is the biggest loser the human race has ever produced — dude can’t even make money with a freakin’ casino! — yet somehow this impossible long shot won the election (with your support, of course), and now he’s running the US? What could possibly go wrong?
Well…
How could you know that every single thing Trump gets his tiny paws on, turns to total shit? And just when your puppet is kicking NATO and US partners to the curb after an economically devastating trade war with China, the Trump Effect takes over, and you are left with your dream — which was finally within reach — fully in tatters.
So now, frustrated and angry, but not defeated, what is left of your dream? How can you get back on track?
When all else fails, the ruthless application of force has always served. So you make your next move on Ukraine, deciding to test the damage done by Trump, betting it is severe enough for you to go forward, unscathed...