Why Russia – and Putin’s – weakness should terrify us

A Russian ship has just rammed a Ukrainian vessel, opened fire on it and captured its sailors. Ukraine has called it an act of war, and legally it may be right. But more than this the act reveals the nature of the true Russia.

At this year’s Helsinki summit, some were aghast at how subservient Donald Trump appeared to be toward Vladimir Putin. His behaviour was seen as treasonous and supposedly pointed to the power Russia now wields. For the alt-right, Putin is seen as a model – a “strongman” who is making his country great again. Meanwhile, the Democrats see an all-powerful Russia behind everything. And there is a similar narrative about Russian meddling in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

All of this could not be further from the truth. The reality is that Russia is weak, and Putin desperately needs to stay in power; the only alternative for him is prison. Russia is a single resource economy and with falling energy prices, decreased living standards are pervasive across Russia. The