Putin the Pathetic
Gilbert Doctorow raises in my mind the question whether Russia’s president is capable of his task.
“The two top issues that Putin dealt with at the very start of the Q&A were about the state of the war in Ukraine and the health of the Russian economy. His statements on both subjects were very, very disappointing – absolutely unworthy of the attention being given to this Direct Line domestically and internationally.
“On the war, Putin delivered the same worm’s eye view of the battlefield that we get day after day on Russian state news. This was not the Commander in Chief speaking. It was a platoon’s noncommissioned officer speaking. He talked about how the Russian forces are taking this hamlet on one front, another hamlet on another front, and the big cities of Kupyansk and Pokrovsk thrown in for good measure. He brought in a war hero who told us something about the fighting in the area of his unit. But Putin said nothing, absolutely nothing about where the war is going. about how Russia expects to force Ukraine to capitulate and in what time frame. Instead he spoke of continuing negotiations, which we all know are headed nowhere.
“On the subject of the economy, he fully backed the disastrous high interest rates policy of the Bank of Russia’s chief, Nabiullina. Yes, we had only 1% economic growth this year, he said. But it was done consciously to fight inflation and in certain sectors like manufacturing there was 3% growth. Maybe that is so, but of course, Putin is talking about manufacturing weapons not consumer goods, and if the consumer goods production is not going up, then inflation will not go down. That is Economics 101. He also acknowledged that the increase in labor productivity in 2025 has been a disappointing 1%. But that is largely dependent on companies’ investments in new, more efficient machines and equipment; no investment means no improvements in productivity. He also acknowledged that housing construction this year is down compared to a year earlier. None of this is good news if Russia is to maintain its rank as number 4 globally after India in GDP as measured by price parity. I think India’s GDP growth this year was close to 8%.”
Can we conclude from Putin’s incapacity that western men lack sufficient self-confidence to take decisive actions? Is Putin another example of men without the confidence to deal successfully with threats? It is extraordinary how weak western men are compared to Israelis, an ethnicity overflowing with self-confidence.