
The Key to Understanding Vladimir Putin - georgecmu
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/key-understanding-vladimir-putin-82391
======
avmich
> Former President Gorbachev has confirmed that it was never written down, but
> the historical record is clear: the West made what amounts to a gentlemen’s
> agreement not to expand, and then went ahead and did so, in two rounds (1999
> and 2004).

Interesting how written - and unwritten - agreements are held - and broken -
in various cases. Korea armstice comes to mind, as well as Budapest memorandum
(of Ukraine and Crimea matter).

------
throwawaysea
Great article. This is a hard one to compress so I recommend people simply
read it. For me, the main takeaway is that there is great depth and detail to
understand anything or anyone well. Most accounts that inform our opinion on
topics like Putin or Russian geopolitics are simply far too simplistic,
lending themselves to confirmation bias. These simplistic views are very
entrenched due to their convenience. It’s refreshing to hear a very different
take.

------
commonturtle
I enjoyed reading this. Does anyone have a recommendation for a biography of
Putin?

~~~
georgecmu
This is a series of interviews from 2000: [https://www.amazon.com/First-
Person-Astonishingly-Self-Portr...](https://www.amazon.com/First-Person-
Astonishingly-Self-Portrait-President/dp/1586480189/)

Look Inside feature is available.

~~~
commonturtle
Interesting, thanks. Do you think the information in it is trustworthy? Not
sure if I can trust Putin to tell his own story truthfully.

