the only thing that makes sense to me is that putin and his circle genuinely believe that power dynamics and spheres of influence are the true way of the world that's simply been obfuscated by the trappings of democracy.  they believe themselves genius pragmatists who have defeated corruption and political instability by codifying them as parts of their system. they believe that poverty and ignorance are the natural state of the masses in which they are most fulfilled and that it is a net benefit to mankind that they ensure it. they believe wealth and success have their own moral tribulations that only some, themselves, are equipped to face. they genuinely believe they posses a mandate for dictating the state of their half of the world and that it is simply the natural order of things that russia governs the east, and they believe the natural order will assert itself as if by fate.  they view cultures as descended from language rather than languages as descended from cultures. they believe that america is subordinate to the "anglo-saxons" simply because it's an english speaking country. and as a consequence of that thinking, they believe all slavic cultures should be subordinate to russia, and the fact some choose not to be is evidence of unnatural meddling in the natural state of the world by opposed powers who resent russia for its "deference to nature"  they view democracies and relatively noncorrupt countries as fundamentally dishonest and steeped in ceremonial distractions from the real laws of power, and they're desperate to pull back a curtain that does not exist to reveal that truth.  that's why they make superficial gestures at decorum and fair political processes, because they believe that's all anyone else is doing, and that deep down every other country is also like russia. that's why they were so quick to suggest partitioning ukraine with its neighbors.
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