Manliest of Men

[danalwyn]

So, it's been a while since Turkey shot down a Russian jet and nobody seems to have started World War III.

I'm hoping that this will disrupt the strange, peculiar, and in some cases almost homoerotic fascination that members of the American right have with Vladimir Putin as a strong, macho, manly man who doesn't take guff from anyone. For a man who is supposed to show no fear and whose tough use of force is supposed to make everyone else back down he's been putting on quite a show of nothing. Then again, when it comes to the Putin-fanboys in the Republican party making a sensible course correction, I'm not holding my breath. I suppose manly men never admit when they're wrong.

Comments

[silverjackal]

I am not so certain that Putin is being quiet because of impotence. While I don't know precisely what it means I can sense that there are pieces in play that we're not aware of. Not that Putin is omnipotent (I laugh out loud at his various macho stunts) but there is something swirling around the whole recent situation -- Ukraine, Syria, etc. that is not clear. Something is at work beyond the obvious grab for influence and control and/or destabilization of rivals. It might even be several somethings but there's more going on that media in general are not covering.

[danalwyn]

I'm not sure if there's something missing from the media - I more suspect that we're missing out on the part of the story that doesn't interest us. Namely, Putin is playing for a domestic Russian audience and has much less interest in the rest of the world than our impression of him as a Soviet warlord has led us to believe. Putin seems to be aiming to survive domestically, and his act of supporting Syria is as much about reinforcing Russia's place in the world for his domestic audience as it is about propping up a failing strongman who was finally losing his grip (that's my opinion at least).

In that, Turkey is playing the mirror to what Russia has done in the Ukraine, poked their adversary and basically dared them to intervene. True, Russia can play the same sanctions game with Turkey that NATO has played with Russia, but that rarely gets serious concessions. Putin gains serious domestic benefits from having a foreign enemy, he just has to take the occasional hit from countries like Turkey who sometimes stop by to remind him that he's not really capable of supporting a long drawn-out heavy conflict as far away as Syria.

While I think this may serve in the long run to bolster Putin's domestic position as defender against Western/Muslim aggression, it runs counter to what American conservatives appear to believe about the man. American Republicans seem to see him as their sort of candidate, a manly man who responds to any sort of provocation with brute force and shows people who's boss. Backing down makes sense domestically, but it may put off his American fanclub.

Then again, I'm not holding my breath.

[silverjackal]

I had no idea Putin had such appeal to conservatives in the U.S. Aside from how appalling that is, it's also patently false. Putin did not get into the position he currently occupies using brute force. Instead there was a great deal of covert power brokering, and discrete elimination of opposition in a variety of very subtle (and nasty) ways. Radiation poisoning for example, or that British official who "committed suicide" by slitting only one of his wrists out in the open on a park bench in the early morning?

I wish I could believe that the "gaps" I'm sensing (for want of a better way to describe it -- these are lacunae in information, rather than deliberate silence by uninterested Western media) are reflective of domestic posturing alone, to reinforce a faltering force. I'm not so sure. I think concealed pivot points are being spawned out of the void in coverage which is likely as internal as it is external. It has something to do with long term power brokerage between the various nations, and puts Russia and China (most notably) in a position to oppose the US and the EU -- or at least the public faces of the latter. I can't see the picture clearly so I could be wrong, but I could swear what's going on is a covert gathering of fresh strength and position, not a puppet show to conceal weakness. This sounds like I wear a tinfoil hat yes? I promise I am not a paranoiac, and in fact I devoutly hope I am wrong.