Opinion | The Grand Theory Driving Putin to War
This brew of attitudes — complaints about Western aggression, exaltation of traditional values over the decadence of individual rights, assertions of Russia’s duty to unite Eurasia and subordinate Ukraine — developed in the cauldron of post-imperial resentment. Now they infuse Mr. Putin’s worldview and inspire his brutal war.
The goal, plainly, is empire. And the line will not be drawn at Ukraine.
