A democracy imperfect like all nations but aspiring to be part of the free world is being invaded by its much larger neighbor, a nefarious dictatorship committing mass atrocities. Contrary to expectations, Democracy repulses an attack that most expected would succeed within days, staunchly resisting and even retaking territory in the months of brutal fighting that followed.
How would an ordinary American, citizen of a nation that defines itself as the beacon of liberty, not for the Ukraine in this war?
Continued after the ad
But there are still significant factions in American politics a small group on the left, a much larger bloc on the right that not only oppose Western aid to Ukraine, but also want to see it clearly Russia win. And my question about it first anniversary of the Russian invasion is: what is behind the support from the right Wladimir Putin?
Alexander Nemenov/AFP
Many people on the right equate power with an arrogant tough guy.
And Putin isn’t the only foreign autocrat the American right likes. the Hungarian Victor Orban became a conservative icon and keynote speaker at meetings of the Conservative Political Action Committee, which even organized one of its conferences in Budapest.
But the conservatives’ admiration for Orbán, I’m afraid I have to tell you, makes rational sense given the goals of the right. If you want your country to become a bastion of white nationalism and social illiberalism, democracy on paper but a oneparty state in practice, the transformation Orbán has brought about Hungary offers a map of the way. And that, of course, is what much of the modern Republican Party wants.
But Orbán is not, as far as I can tell, the subject of any rightwing personality cult. How many American conservatives know your character?
Putin, on the other hand, is largely the subject of a personality cult not only within Russia but also within the American right and has been for years. And this cult is pretty scary in that sense. For example, in 2014 a National Review columnist compared Putin’s shirtless horseback riding to the thenpresident’s “metrosexual golf outfits.” Barack Obama.
Up until the invasion of Ukraine, Putinphilia was also accompanied by lavish praise of Russia’s supposed military prowess. Most famous in 2021 ted cruz A video circulated comparing a Russian military recruitment ad showing a muscular man doing macho things to an ad that highlighted diversity among US Army recruits. “Maybe an emasculated, weeping soldier isn’t the best idea,” Cruz explained.
What was the basis of this Putinist praise? I would argue that for many rightwingers, being powerful means being an arrogant macho who scoffs at anything — like intellectual openness and respect for diversity — that might get in the way of his cockiness. Putin was his ideal of what a powerful man should look like, and Russia, with its military vision as a strong man, was his ideal of a powerful country.
It should have been clear from the beginning that this world view was completely wrong. National power in the modern world rests primarily on economic strength and technological prowess, not military prowess.
But then came the invasion, and it turns out that Putin’s emasculated, lactatingfree Russia isn’t even that good at waging wars.
Why did Russia’s military fail so spectacularly? Because modern wars aren’t won by muscular men flexing their biceps. They are gained primarily through logistics, technology, and intelligence (both in the military and ordinary sense) — elements in which Russia, it turns out, is weak and Ukraine is surprisingly strong. (Not only thanks to Western weapons, although they are amazingly effective; Ukrainians have also shown a real talent for “MacGyver” solutions to their military needs.)
To be clear, wars are still a hell of a thing and cannot be won, even with superior weaponry, without immense courage and perseverance qualities that Ukrainian men and women alike have demonstrated in remarkable abundance.
Speaking of bravery, am I the only one who noticed the contrast between the President’s brave visit? Joe Biden to Kiev and the way of the expresident donald trump ran into the White House bunker in front of unarmed protesters in Lafayette Square?
But back to the war. The key to understanding the right’s growing anger at Ukraine lies in recognizing that Russia’s defeats not only show that the leader they idolize has feet of clay, but also show that their entire macho view of the nature of power is wrong . And it’s hard for her to accept.
That explains why some of the top Putinists in the United States continue to insist that Ukraine actually loses. Putin “wins the war in Ukraine,” Tucker Carlson claimed on August 29, days before several Ukrainian victories. There is still much talk of a massive Russian offensive this winter; The truth, however, is that this offensive is already underway but, as one Ukrainian official put it, has made so little progress “that many fail to see.”
None of this means that Russia cannot conquer Ukraine at some point. If it does, however, it’s partly because Putin’s American supporters have forced a cut in crucial aid. And when that happens, it will be because the American right doesn’t support the idea of a world where being divided doesn’t mean weakness and men with macho posturing are actually losers. / TRANSLATION BY GUILHERME RUSSO