Putin?s War on Ukraine

Eight years after annexing Crimea, Russia embarked on a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022. For Vladimir Putin, this was a legacy-defining mission?to restore Russia?s sphere of influence and undo Ukraine?s surprisingly resilient democratic experiment. Yet Putin?s aspirations were swiftly eviscerated, as the conflict degenerated into a bloody war of attrition and the Russian economy faced crippling sanctions. How can we make sense of his decision to invade?

This book argues that Putin?s policy of global counter-revolution is driven not by systemic factors, such as preventing NATO expansion, but domestic ones: the desire to unite Russians around common principles and consolidate his personal brand of authoritarianism. This objective has inspired military interventions in Crimea, Donbas and Syria, and now all-out war against Kyiv.

Samuel Ramani explores why Putin opted for regime change in Ukraine, rather than a smaller-scale intervention in Donbas, and considers the impact on his own regime?s legitimacy. How has Russia?s long-term political and foreign policy trajectory shifted? And how will the international response reshape the world order?

'[Ramani's] encyclopedic descriptions... yield interesting details and... solid tactical analysis.'