Putin is increasingly losing touch with reality

Trailed as an historic address to the nation following the weekend’s Wagner rebellion, Vladimir Putin’s short speech on Monday night was instead an unconvincing condemnation of everything generally and nothing much specifically. If the speech was historic, it was only because of the way the president brought up Russia’s historical betrayals and revolutions. 

Putin’s (mis)uses of historical grievance often cause bemusement in the West but it serves him well domestically. Replicated by the Kremlin propaganda machine, the President’s messages about the chaotic, desperate 1990s and the long scars of Russia’s bloody 20^th century civil wars are carefully designed to invoke fear of what might follow his exit from power. This is coupled with promises, never quite manifested, of a return to Soviet-era greatness and self-sufficiency. The Kremlin’s incessant replaying of past triumphs and trauma has played a crucial role in Russian people acquiescing to an increasingly authoritarian regime and catastrophically aggressive foreign policy.