President Putin is in his second session as President, making waves in Russian society with a brutal war against Ukraine. It isn’t helping its standing anywhere, and even if this isn’t the point, it soon will be. Their diplomacy is believed by their hierarchy to strike a different chord, but the two aren’t separate matters unless proved so.
This is the struggle Putin has, as he launches initiatives but cannot explain himself. The engagements he had with world leaders in his first term ended badly. It meant he had to take a break to adjust and argue with advisers in elite Moscow circles. This led to his return. His war now is to shore up national security, and to empower his office.
The complexities he navigates have an uncertain outcome. He cannot ‘make’ security happen. Neither can he ensure that his office is popular everywhere. The transition from war to peace will be smooth. He won’t see the difference. Isolated from many parts of the country due to his superior, technical control, and looked at for answers, any way ahead is entirely his own.