Political Philosopher Discusses Putin, Ukraine

Here’s an interview with an expert on ethics and political philosophy Dr. Andrew Fiala, concerning Putin and what should be done to remove him.

A few points he made that I thought were excellent include:

Ideally, whatever actions are taken to remove him from power should come from within, and involve no violence from outside of Russia.  He argues, effectively I feel, that violence and democratization almost never yield good results.  People don’t like to be told what to do, and their sense of nationalism tends to compel them to resist efforts of outsiders, regardless of how apparently helpful and solid they may be. Iraq and Afghanistan are good examples.

When we think of Putin at this point, we tend to picture what he’s facing as what Hitler was going through at the end of the Second World War, hunkered down, alone, in a bunker somewhere, contemplating, and ultimately committing suicide.

Is, in fact, Putin alone, or does he have advisors?  If the latter, who are they?  Are they sycophants, or are they capable of sound advice? Of course, we don’t know, though we suspect that he’s living in his own echo chamber, and that his capacity to reason must be badly damaged, if not destroyed altogether.

I highly recommend the interview.