King Kremlin

Does a new biography of Vladimir Putin go too easy on the Russian leader?

- PETER GRACE 

PUTIN: His life and times, by Philip Short (Bodley Head, $45) One of the key debates raging eternally in the world of international relations theory is that of structure versus agency. Is a state's decision to engage in, for instance, violent conflict driven by external forces, domestic politics, or by the actions of an individual? Thus, the motivations behind the Ukraine invasion is put down variously to Nato expansion, the Russian regime's fear of democracy movements, or the whims and prejudices of Vladimir Putin.

A new biography of the Great Leader might therefore be helpful. In Putin, Philip Short delivers some tangible insights by detailing Putin's tough-guy personality. As a boy, Putin plays with wannabe delinquents and is quick to throw himself into fights, even with those who dwarf him in strength and ruthlessness. An early KGB assessment of him warns he has a "lowered sense of danger". Putin is ambitious, and sometimes reckless, and this fits with the risk-taker we see in Ukraine.

Putin is also described, at least early on, as a political ingenue. His father was a good Communist and he grew up neither thinking nor much caring about the Soviet Union's political, economic and ethical failings. As a KGB employee, he sees the dissolution of the USSR first as an affront to his career chances, then as a political vacuum he might easily slide into, and finally as the end of a golden age of Russian power and conservative values. As the fall of the Berlin Wall and attempted coups in Red Square swirl around him, Putin is often absent (on holiday), the book suggests, and rushes back to the office after the commotion is over. The future leader thinks only of himself, but even then he is a two-dimensional character, assuming power more because the chair is empty than because it has been offered to him.