Putin will not stop in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin's childhood and his resultant defensive armoring, repression of emotion and projection of strength help me make sense of why former President Donald Trump has been so enamored of Putin. Putin's strongman facade of emotionless, cruel perfection has always been quite appealing to narcissists such as Trump. Having a narcissist as a leader is painful.
Obsession, by its nature, is never satisfied. Obstacles only make the need grow stronger. Putin turns 70 this year. He will never die without accomplishing what he set out to do. He must leave behind a strong legacy. He must rewrite history by reversing the breakup of the Soviet Union. He's got to rebuild the old empire. Never satisfied with what he has, he'll continue to pursue more.
Such obsession inevitably creates blindness to other concerns. No resistance. Why should there be? He's entitled. If he wins in Ukraine, it won't end there. Gaining more ground leads to wanting more. If he fears losing ground, he might take extreme action. He's already threatened the use of nuclear power.
The nature of obsession is holding on rigidly. Look at Trump: He's still saying the election was stolen, he's still nursing resentment and conspiracy theories.
This void in Putin's self creates a bottomless pit of entitlement. He'll never listen to the other side. As he issues commands to the military to keep pressing on, he is silently praising himself for the brilliant job he's doing, making his entitlement known as the world watches. Martin Lyden
Troy Licensed psychologist; past
president, Psychological Association of Northeastern
New York
our hands trying to decide whether to fight or not.
No sane person wants war and all the evil that it entails. The only thing more terrible is to do nothing when by acting we are not only saving lives, we are doing the right thing. Michael Mooney
Albany
James Rothenberg
North Chatham