In 2019, Vladimir Putin masterfully played a weak hand. He saw an opening: the U.S. was distracted by impeachment, NATO was in the doldrums, Britain was pointing inward with Brexit, and when we weren’t looking, Russia displaced us in Syria, as its ties to China and other countries strengthened. Russia expert Tom Graham tells Jim Zirin that Russia will never become a liberal democracy, and argues for a “pragmatic
approach” to manage an increasingly difficult relationship.
