“What makes me optimistic is that President Putin’s vision has very little to offer the people of Europe—or, for that matter, the people of Russia—other than myths and illusions, the false promise of returning to a past that, when examined, was not too good a past to begin with. A sleight of hand that presents the bullying of civil societies, dissidents, and gays as substitutes for strong leadership and functioning institutions. The propaganda that conflates aggression with strength.”
