Distraught dictator or rational actor? With Putin
and Ukraine, the evidence is chilling.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/01/putin-fixation-ukraine-irrational/
David Ignatius:
“Putin’s behavior follows the script of Thomas Schelling in his classic 1960 study of brinkmanship, “The Strategy of Conflict.” Reckless behavior could be a useful bargaining tactic, Schelling argued. “A careless or even self-destructive attitude toward injury — 'I’ll cut a vein in my arm if you don’t let me …’ — can be a genuine strategic advantage; so can a cultivated inability to hear or comprehend, or a reputation for frequent lapses of self-control.”
The Biden administration initially tried to shrug off Putin’s attempt to play the nuclear card. Asked Monday if Americans should be worried about Putin’s threat, Biden responded simply, “no.” Press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration saw “no reason to change our own alert levels.” Against Putin’s irrational threat, she countered with the rational response: “Everybody knows that that is not a war that can be won.” Putin’s response was to reiterate the nuclear alert.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/01/putin-fixation-ukraine-irrational/
David Ignatius:
“Putin’s behavior follows the script of Thomas Schelling in his classic 1960 study of brinkmanship, “The Strategy of Conflict.” Reckless behavior could be a useful bargaining tactic, Schelling argued. “A careless or even self-destructive attitude toward injury — 'I’ll cut a vein in my arm if you don’t let me …’ — can be a genuine strategic advantage; so can a cultivated inability to hear or comprehend, or a reputation for frequent lapses of self-control.”
The Biden administration initially tried to shrug off Putin’s attempt to play the nuclear card. Asked Monday if Americans should be worried about Putin’s threat, Biden responded simply, “no.” Press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration saw “no reason to change our own alert levels.” Against Putin’s irrational threat, she countered with the rational response: “Everybody knows that that is not a war that can be won.” Putin’s response was to reiterate the nuclear alert.