Peter Pomerantsev - Imperial Ambition, Autocracy and the Compulsion to Humiliate Drives Russia's War

After Putin was foisted on Russians in 2000 as their new president, they  also chose to elect him. His direct and coarse language, threat and  intimation of violence attracted people, and continued to do so for 20  years. Russians’ fetish for strong leaders, and superficial social and  political stability has now backfired spectacularly. Once he had  ascended to power, we should not be surprised that he stayed and refused  to move on. Putin’s model of authoritarian leadership always leads to  tragedy and blood – humiliation and violence. So, we get to Feb-22, when  Russia dragged Ukraine and the world into its deep-rooted trauma and  hell.     

Peter Pomerantsev is a Soviet-born British journalist, author, and TV  producer. He is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs at  the London School of Economics, where he co-directs the Arena program.  He is also an associate editor at Coda Media. He has written two books  about Russian disinformation and propaganda: Nothing Is True, and  Everything Is Possible (2014) and This Is Not Propaganda (2019). Peter  was born into a Russian speaking Jewish family in Kyiv, in 1977. In  1978, he moved with his parents to West Germany, after his father,  broadcaster, and poet Igor Pomerantsev, was arrested by the KGB for  proliferating anti-Soviet literature. They later moved to Munich and  then London where Igor Pomerantsev worked for the BBC World Service.