Writing in The Times on Wednesday 13th April 2022, The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP said:
It is astonishing that, when it comes to foreign policy, so many seem to have learned so little from Putin’s invasion of his peaceful Ukrainian neighbour. Those who have allowed wishful thinking to displace critical analysis in recent years continue to misread Putin and give some benefit of the doubt when none is justified.
The medical distinction between sociopathy and psychopathy is somewhat blurred but it is fair to say sociopaths show consistent patterns of behaviour that include the lack of empathy for others, attempting control with threats or aggression, impulsive behaviour and using intelligence, charm or charisma as tools of manipulation. They also often fail to learn from mistakes or punishment.
Against this, evaluate Putin.
Here is the man who, at the 2007 security conference in Munich, showed that he was in denial about the defeat of the Soviet Union when he said that “the fall of the Berlin Wall was possible thanks to a historic choice — one that was also made by our people, the people of Russia — a choice in favour of democracy, freedom, openness and a sincere partnership with all the members of the big European family”.
It was what many of his audience wanted to believe, and so they did.
He manipulated the gullibility of conflict-averse European leaders when he told them that: “The use of force can only be considered legitimate if the decision is sanctioned by the UN.” He even had the nerve to tell them that “Our army is leaving Georgia . . . We resolved the problems we had with our Georgian colleagues, as everybody knows”.
That was December 2007. On August 8th 2008 he launched a full-scale land, air and sea invasion of Georgia, including its undisputed territory, referring to it as a “peace enforcement” operation. Sound familiar?
When Crimea was invaded and occupied by force in 2014, the same risk averse elements bought into the arguments about ethnicity, history and those who were “Russian speakers”, rather than focus on Russia’s determination to have a warm water port for its navy in the Black Sea.
At some point gullibility merges into a wilful unwillingness to accept reality. How can anyone see anything else in Putin’s actions than a casual indifference to slaughter or the guiltless application of death and destruction to the innocent?
Still, there are those who urge us to find “a way back” for Putin. We must be clear that for the Russian leader, his co-conspirators in the siloviki — political strongmen — and the military, no such thing is possible. The atrocities being rained down on the people of Ukraine are a choice. The perpetrators crossed the rubicon and must pay the price, forever.
That is different to Russia, the nation, or the Russian people who have, themselves, suffered the personal, political and economic price of Putin’s narcissism and repression.
In any post-Putin era, which will come sooner or later, hopefully sooner, there will need to be a break not only with his pattern of behaviour but also the belief system rooted in Soviet, and especially KGB, ideology.
If that happens, then there is no reason why Russia cannot begin to take its place among the family of nations who coexist with shared values.
Nato will have a valuable role to play in this transition, but it needs to emphasise not only its credentials as a purely defensive alliance but its political foundations. These are, after all, what confer its moral authority — the commitment to democracy, individual freedom, rule of law and human rights.
We must ditch wishful thinking about Putin’s Russia and side-line all those responsible for its destructive application in defence and foreign policy. In dealing with a brutal tyrant, hope is a bad substitute for cold and rational analysis.
The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP is former Defence and International Trade Secretary. He was the UK’s Nominee to be Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2020.