Georgia and the Dangers of Putinism
Perhaps it was the great geopolitical hope of the past two decades that Russia would turn out to be a normal country, like most other post-communist states. That hope was arguably dying the death of thousand cuts over the years, becoming less credible with every new authoritarian measure at home and every next saber rattling abroad. But invading a sovereign democratic neighbor must surely count as the Rubicon of sorts.

Fueled by a sense of humiliation and bounties of a resource boom, Putin has encouraged and overseen the blossoming of a chauvinistic and jingoistic climate of opinion that represents a curious mélange of communist and tsarist themes...

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