Opinion | This Is Why Putin Can't Back Down - The New York Times - 0 views
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I’ve found the writings of conventional international relations experts to be not very helpful in understanding what this whole crisis is about. But I’ve found the writing of experts in social psychology to be enormously helpful.
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That’s because Vladimir Putin is not a conventional great power politician. He’s fundamentally an identity entrepreneur.
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The war in Ukraine is not primarily about land; it’s primarily about status. Putin invaded so Russians could feel they are a great nation once again and so Putin himself could feel that he’s a world historical figure along the lines of Peter the Great.
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