Who is Vladimir Putin’s Revisionist History For?
Nationalist leaders often weaponize the past to justify their present aims. But the Russian president’s narrative appears to be directed at an audience of one.
by Yasmeen Serhan
Feb 27, 2022
4 minutes
To paraphrase one of Barack Obama’s favorite phrases, the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice. Were Vladimir Putin to offer his own rendition of these words, it would probably go something along the lines of: The arc of history is long, but it bends backwards.
This, at least, appeared to be the thrust of the Russian president’s message this week when he offered a speech dismissing Ukraine’s right to exist and then days later announced Moscow’s intent to invade the country in order to “.” In his telling, if Ukraine had once been part of the Soviet sphere, it should be part of Russia. And just
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