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.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-03 05:07 am (UTC)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.