Putin’s nightmare is becoming a reality

‘Those he commands move only in command, nothing in love’. Shakespeare always gets it right. I remembered his words about Macbeth as I watched a shifty Vladimir Putin force the members of his Security Council to bob up and down as they tremulously affirmed their support for his wise policy on Ukraine. This enforced compliance among Russian’s politicians has continued in the days since, as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has continued. Russian officials are not openly criticising Putin (yet). But the faces of his generals – serious professionals who know how dangerous these things are – spoke volumes as he ordered them to up the nuclear alert. And they will not be the only ones around him to worry. Meanwhile, artists and musicians, writers and journalists, ordinary members of the middle class – even children of Putin’s cronies – are going onto the streets to express their anger and shame at what he is doing.