Larry D. Lauer

Putin has made it clear that his mission is to bring back the Soviet empire

1. Stalin established the Soviet empire, often using violence on his own people.
2. The appealing idea of this empire no doubt has been in Putin’s mind since his service in the KGB.
3. Toward that end, he made brutal attacks on several former Soviet countries. including the Ukraine.
4. In today’s internet and social media world, he could be thinking that this is his last chance to bring back that empire.
5. Rather than admitting defeat, he might actually prefer to “go down” fighting, and have history record that he was the one who tried.
6. The big issue for the EU and NATO: Would Putin actually resort to chemical and/or nuclear weapons?
7. If so, how will they respond? Right now the answer remains unknown.
8. Whatever happens, it certainly is clear that the vast majority of the world prefers democracy and freedom over the control of autocrats and dictators. Would-be autocrats better be paying attention!