Vladimir Putin’s newest display of talent is his excelling in theatrics. He recently elected to play Macbeth or Richard III. Having nothing left to offer Russia as the indices of immiseration pile up, Putin’s recourse to imperial theatrics has dramatically accelerated. But ultimately this performance, like those of his predecessors on stage and in reality, ends with the political or physical death of the tyrant and a new king or in Russia’s case, tsar.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Stephen Blank: Vladimir Putin does Shakespeare
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova and Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, in Moscow on March 28, 2018.
