Poll: Vladimir Putin is stronger than President Obama

Full disclosure: I am no fan of President Obama.

But I believe it is objectively correct to characterize him as a weak leader.

Conversely, it is surely correct to describe Vladimir Putin as strong. Well, in a thuggish sort of way, at least.

President Obama still seems to believe (to paraphrase his secretary of state) that countries, well, just don't behave so barbarically in the twenty-first century.

Evidently, Vladiimir Putin does not feel constrained by such postmodern niceties...

 

That is what happens when we elect a sooner

 

Tamerlane, that's a rather rare name to be bandied about. Interesting fellow to be sure, but honestly there is no way to compare the likes of the Attillas, Khans, and other more ancient leaders to more modern ones, as too many standards have changed in time...

One attribute strong leaders all share is accomplishment. That is what truly sets them apart. Whatever anyone may think of Putin, he gets things done, and its hard not to respect that aspect of him, even if one doesn't agree with exactly what he got done.

 

Certainly, the complexities and repercussions of a leader's actions are far more complex and consequential in a global context.

What Pooty Poot may have just done in brutally seizing Crimea is excise from Ukraine a fanatically pro-Russian faction and consigned the nation to a western orientation whilst intensifying antipathies within a number of previous USSR nations in eastern Europe, as well as making others very nervous concerning their energy dependency and seeking diversification. Coming on too strong has its consequences.

If one declares American presidents "weak" (See Eisenhower, Hungary, '56; Johnson, Czechoslovakia, '68, the Bush, Georgia,'08 ) in every instance of Russian aggression, it is the sort of "weakness" that successfully avoided WWIII, and the former two crises were integral components of a dogged policy that resulted in the collapse of the Soviet empire.

Restrain can be an admirable trait in a leader, and when those who denounce it the loudest can articulate no viable alternative, one must abandon them to their festering alienation.

 

Not just the global context but also the complexity of an ever changing standard in regards to norms in the historical context. What happened with ancient leaders which is portrayed today as sheer brutality was run of the mill warfare then. To see any modern leader take such steps is deserving of all the demonizing they often receive... Although I'm happy to see you mentioned Tamerlane, he's often missed by history for his accomplishments...

What Putin is doing is maneuvering from a position of strength, Europe cannot ignore him, the US will not stop him, and all the break away republics knew this could happen and did little to prepare for it. Like him or hate him, he's doing what he wants because he positioned himself for exactly these moments. He's shrewd and brutal, but he gets results that evidently his people like...

You cannot equate Cold War actions to non-Cold War actions, there was a well defined aggression between the Soviets and Americans that any misstep could lead to nuclear annihilation, simply a different context. Add Putin and his ability to calculate, in 2008 Bush was a lame duck involved in two wars and various other activities, demonized by the press, and starting to see the economic cracks. No US president would have done differently in the same situation. The Russians took advantage, and most of the world ignored it, as so much more was happening. Enter Obama, at first sort of a wild card, then he sent the Russians a 'reset' button, then he appeased them by shutting the the missile shield in Poland, on a date that was set by the Russians to add maximum sting to the Polish. Then the Russians waited for the most part, minus their various deals between the BRICS countries until Syria hit the fan. Putin called Obama's bluff on the red line, and its been pretty much downhill since then...

Restraint is great when its beneficial, but the Russians are seeing an opportunity and taking it. I'm certainly no fan of Russia, but they are are sovereign nation and they perusing their interests, as is their right. The painful thing about it that the US has a weak and pathetic leader that never learned to simply walk away when he's been slapped down, instead he plays petty games with sanctions and such...