Vejas Liulevicius

So on the one hand, in Putin's Russia, the Tsars are rehabilitated as heroes of Russian statehood. Putin sees Lenin in a negative light because Lenin, by producing federalism as a model for the Soviet Union, laid a time bomb at the base of that state that eventually smashed it into many constituent parts as...

So on the one hand, in Putin's Russia, the Tsars are rehabilitated as heroes of Russian statehood. Putin sees Lenin in a negative light because Lenin, by producing federalism as a model for the Soviet Union, laid a time bomb at the base of that state that eventually smashed it into many constituent parts as...

nations regain their independence, while Stalin, it's acknowledged, exacted a dreadful toll, but also was effective as a representative of Russian statehood. This produced where we are today. It's a commonplace that echoed by many that Russia without Ukraine is a nation state or could be a nation state. Russia with Ukraine has to be an empire.

nations regain their independence, while Stalin, it's acknowledged, exacted a dreadful toll, but also was effective as a representative of Russian statehood. This produced where we are today. It's a commonplace that echoed by many that Russia without Ukraine is a nation state or could be a nation state. Russia with Ukraine has to be an empire.

nations regain their independence, while Stalin, it's acknowledged, exacted a dreadful toll, but also was effective as a representative of Russian statehood. This produced where we are today. It's a commonplace that echoed by many that Russia without Ukraine is a nation state or could be a nation state. Russia with Ukraine has to be an empire.

And Putin, who is not really seeking a revival of Stalin's rule, but still is nostalgic about earlier forms of greatness and of the strength of Russian statehood to the exclusion of other values, has undertaken a course of aggression that has produced results quite different from what he likely expected. And I think that timing is crucial here.

And Putin, who is not really seeking a revival of Stalin's rule, but still is nostalgic about earlier forms of greatness and of the strength of Russian statehood to the exclusion of other values, has undertaken a course of aggression that has produced results quite different from what he likely expected. And I think that timing is crucial here.

And Putin, who is not really seeking a revival of Stalin's rule, but still is nostalgic about earlier forms of greatness and of the strength of Russian statehood to the exclusion of other values, has undertaken a course of aggression that has produced results quite different from what he likely expected. And I think that timing is crucial here.

It's fascinating to try to imagine what if this attempt to re-digest Ukraine into an expanded Russian imperial territory had taken place earlier. I think that the arrival on the scene of a new generation of Ukrainians has produced a very different dynamic and a disinclination for any kind of nostalgia for the past, packaged however it might be and however nostalgic it might be made to appear.

It's fascinating to try to imagine what if this attempt to re-digest Ukraine into an expanded Russian imperial territory had taken place earlier. I think that the arrival on the scene of a new generation of Ukrainians has produced a very different dynamic and a disinclination for any kind of nostalgia for the past, packaged however it might be and however nostalgic it might be made to appear.

It's fascinating to try to imagine what if this attempt to re-digest Ukraine into an expanded Russian imperial territory had taken place earlier. I think that the arrival on the scene of a new generation of Ukrainians has produced a very different dynamic and a disinclination for any kind of nostalgia for the past, packaged however it might be and however nostalgic it might be made to appear.

And there, I think that Putin's expectations in the invasion of 2022 were entirely overturned. His expectation was that Ukraine would be divided on this score and that some significant portion of Ukrainians would welcome Ukraine. The advance of Russian forces. And instead, there has been the most amazing and surprising heroic resistance that continues to this day.

And there, I think that Putin's expectations in the invasion of 2022 were entirely overturned. His expectation was that Ukraine would be divided on this score and that some significant portion of Ukrainians would welcome Ukraine. The advance of Russian forces. And instead, there has been the most amazing and surprising heroic resistance that continues to this day.

And there, I think that Putin's expectations in the invasion of 2022 were entirely overturned. His expectation was that Ukraine would be divided on this score and that some significant portion of Ukrainians would welcome Ukraine. The advance of Russian forces. And instead, there has been the most amazing and surprising heroic resistance that continues to this day.

And surprises, yeah.

And surprises, yeah.

And surprises, yeah.

I'm very pessimistic on this score, actually. And for the reasons we just talked about, about how these things escape human management or even rationality. I think that war takes on a life of its own as accumulated suffering actually eliminates possible compromises or settlements that one might talk about in the abstract. I think that

I'm very pessimistic on this score, actually. And for the reasons we just talked about, about how these things escape human management or even rationality. I think that war takes on a life of its own as accumulated suffering actually eliminates possible compromises or settlements that one might talk about in the abstract. I think that

I'm very pessimistic on this score, actually. And for the reasons we just talked about, about how these things escape human management or even rationality. I think that war takes on a life of its own as accumulated suffering actually eliminates possible compromises or settlements that one might talk about in the abstract. I think that