Putin is Perfectly Rational
Before you spit out your coffee, give it second, and keep reading.
In the not so distant past, there was a country with a significant migration problem. People with one linguistic, cultural and religious tradition settled a frontier region belonging to a country with separate linguistic, cultural and religious traditions. Naturally, there was a great deal of tension between the settlers and the government.
As antagonisms grew, and the settlers demanded more and more concessions from the government, rebellion finally broke out.
As the rebellion intensified, the settlers’ original country flooded the territory with arms and volunteers, and the settlers won their independence. After a short go of independence, they held a referendum (sometimes called a plebiscite), and decided to join their home country. Leaving the country who originally had claims and rights to the territory upset, but unable to do anything about it.
If you said that this rings of some of the issues facing Ukraine, you’d be right. If you also said that this doesn’t sound quite like Ukraine, you would also be right. This isn’t Ukraine in the 21st Century. This is Texas in the 19th Century.
Many Westerners struggle to put Putin’s actions into context, so they conclude that “he must be crazy.” Sorry, but unfortunately, he isn’t.
