Issue Briefs
Putin Learns A Lesson Washington Knows All Too Well: Military Power Can Kill People, But It Can’t Change Them (From Forbes)
Loren B. Thompson
April 14, 2022
Vladimir Putin apparently launch Russia’s invasion of Ukraine believing that resistance would collapse quickly. The opposite has occurred: the Ukrainians fought back fiercely to defend their culture and identity. Moscow now realizes if it wants to pacify Ukraine, it will have to wipe out much of the population. The lesson is that while military power can be very efficient at dispatching troublesome locals, it is nearly powerless to destroy who they are or what they believe. The Unites States has learned this lesson over and over again–in Vietnam, in Somalia, in Afghanistan, in Iraq. All our fond hopes for reforming wayward nations have been defeated by the deep-seated cultural features of their people. Putin could have learned this lesson from reviewing Russia’s efforts to subjugate Afghanistan a generation ago. Now he too is learning that lesson the hard way. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
The views and opinions expressed in this issue brief are those of the author.
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Loren B. Thompson is a Senior Adviser at GPI, Chief Operating Officer of the non-profit Lexington Institute and Chief Executive Officer of Source Associates, a for-profit consultancy. Prior to holding his present positions, he was Deputy Director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and taught graduate-level courses in strategy, technology and media affairs at Georgetown. He has also taught at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Mr. Thompson holds doctoral and masters degrees in government from Georgetown University and a bachelor of science degree in political science from Northeastern |