The World Belatedly Awakens to the Menace of Vladimir Putin

I am heartened by the unity of the United States and its allies against the Russian aggression against Ukraine and by the various measures that have been taken to sanction and isolate the regime of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin and the kleptocratic oligarchs who support him. But I cannot help but wonder why it has taken over twenty years for the world to awaken to the threat that has long been obvious to many of us who have tried to warn the world, given the lack of de-Communization of Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the inadequate liberalization of the Russian economy that allowed oligarchs to plunder Russia’s industries, and especially after the rise of ex-Soviet intelligence officer Putin, first as security chief under the previous leader and then as an increasingly authoritarian dictator. Today’s righteous indignation and recognition of the threat from the Kremlin should have been expressed when Putin killed exiles abroad using chemical weapons, engaged in propaganda and misinformation against vaccines as a kind of biological warfare against the West, targeted hospitals with bombs in support of Syrian state sponsor of terrorism Bashar Assad, or invaded Georgia and Ukraine previously, among his many rogue behaviors against not only former Soviet Republics that he believes should never have been allowed to become independent of the Soviet Empire, but against the United States and numerous other States, misdeeds that made the Russian “czar” the most malign influence in the world. Some of these behaviors, as well as his political interference in Western States and America through stealing information and disinformation, were acts of war. With each of his domestic human rights violations and international machinations, it became increasingly clear that Putin would not be stopped through diplomacy and trade, or even with mild sanctions. His objection to strictly defensive measures by former Soviet Republics and satellites, such as joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as protection against Russia, was the obvious giveaway that he sees the United States and its alliance as a threat to his goal of restoring the Soviet Union, just as his opposition to self-determination in these former captive countries proves his fear of freedom, especially for the Russian people, whom he cannot risk allowing to exercise a true, informed choice against his power and corruption. Now the whole world must fully understand the international menace it faces and take the appropriate measures once again to defeat tyranny.