Vladimir Putin is often accused of playing a bad hand well. His continent-sized nation was demeaned by Barack Obama as a mere gas station, with an economy comparable to Italy’s. But he’s also credited with using troll farms and a handful of cheesy Facebook memes to poison the debate among America’s political class, half of whom went on to portray him as an omnicompetent master of world events. This chatter about Putin’s mastery over foreign elections displeased Putin’s Russian rivals mightily.
But what we see at the border of Ukraine is not Russia playing a bad hand well. Instead, Russia has tossed out the cards, flipped over the table, and pointed a gun at the other player, hoping that will make him fold. Russia’s moves in Ukraine since 2014 have been those of a power desperately scrambling to avoid a historic disaster.
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