JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Six-Year Manifesto Sets Sights Beyond Ukraine” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
“Putin’s state of the nation address should have been a mere pre-election formality, but it left an extremely chilling impression of an unraveling spiral of escalation.”
“… The horizons of this ‘holy war’ have now expanded. If a year ago, Putin focused on protecting ‘our land’ and relied on defensive and even sacrificial rhetoric, this year he sounded victorious, speaking not on behalf of a geopolitical victim, but as a ‘formidable and invincible force.’ … Putin also made it clear that his agenda does not stop with Ukraine. He used the address to present Russia as … a geopolitical ideologist backed by ‘the majority of people in the world, including millions in Western countries.’ It would be a grave mistake to underestimate the ambition of these words … not empty propaganda, but a reflection of plans for ideological expansion, the export of ‘Putinism’ to Western countries, and active work with potential ‘friends.’ In other words, the geopolitical battlefield for values is once again moving to Western territory …. Putin also referred to … Macron’s recent refusal to rule out sending NATO troops to Ukraine, saying that would have ‘far graver consequences’ than previous enemies had faced, since the threat of a nuclear conflict ‘potentially means the end of civilization.’ Putin’s address … created an extremely chilling impression of an unraveling spiral of escalation. Russia is gradually entering into an all-encompassing political and military mobilization. …”