Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty
Vladimir Putin must go.
His demented Kremlin speech Friday, during a ceremony in which he feebly asserted Russia was annexing portions of Ukraine, made the strongest case for the necessity of regime change in Moscow that any world leader has yet to make.
But it has been clear the Russian dictator must be removed from office for a long time now.
It has been clear because Putins actions and rhetoric demonstrate day in and day out that Ukraine can never be secure as long as he remains in office. It has been clear because none of Russias neighbors can be secure with a megalomaniacal lunatic next door who speaks of Russian empire and constantly threatens to rewrite the borders of sovereign states.
Italys Far-Right Victory Is a (Small) Win for Putin
It has been clear because the world cant be stable as long as the man who controls the planets largest stockpile of nuclear weapons is one whose power is unchecked at home, who shows such contempt for both international law and human decency, and whose ambitions are so untethered to reality.
Justice also requires that Putin leave office. He is a serial war criminal, one of the worst the world has seen in the modern era. He has laid waste to a sovereign nation. He is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands. He has embraced the language and practice of genocide. His armies have committed war crimes. Mass graves attest to his brutality. What is more, his crimes are not limited to the human suffering he has unleashed upon Ukraine. Other violations of fundamental laws and myriad atrocities can be traced to decisions he has madefrom Russias leveling of Grozny in Chechnya to Russias active support for and participation in horrors in Syria; from the invasion of Georgia to Putins murderous campaign against dissidents within his own country.
Putin, for years, has provided evidence not only to international prosecutors but to every sentient being on the planet that he is not a legitimate leader. He does not deserve to be swathed in the protections normally accorded to foreign heads of state. He has no more claim on them than did past monstersfrom Hitler to Saddam to Gadhafi, from Pol Pot to Milosevic.
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The dead of Bucha and Melitipol or Izyum make that case with their absence. So do the victims of Russian torture, of bombed hospitals, schools and train stations, of mass kidnapping, and of unceasing terror being visited by Russian missiles, artillery and troops upon innocentsvictims of the misfortune of living next door to one of historys most repulsive miscreants.
No one could listen to Putins rambling Friday rant and draw any conclusion other than the fact that the longer Putin remains in office, the greater the damage he will do.
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Ukrainian regional separatist leaders attends the annexation ceremony of four Ukrainian regions at the Grand Kremlin Palace, Sept. 30, 2022 in Moscow, Russia.
Contributor/Getty Images
If the absurd spectacle of a signing ceremony asserting Russian control of Ukrainian territory featuring Kremlin stooges and nationalistic chants did not chill observers to the bone, then Putins belligerent language condemning the enemy in the West and his intimations that he might be within his rights to use nuclear weapons certainly should. He mocked international law. He condemned U.S. satanism. He called on Ukraine to negotiate but said that the fate of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson was not on the table, that they would be parts of Russia forever.
When President Joe Biden said of Putin in May, For Gods sake, this man cannot remain in power, it was followed by a swift clarification from the White House that the president was not discussing Putins power in Russia, or regime change.
But as we have gradually come to learn, Bidens seemingly spontaneous comments on crucial issues of international policy to which he has devoted decades of studywhether they concern Putin or Taiwanare not gaffes. They instead are expressions of common sense, acknowledgements of reality that diplomats may wish were unspoken, that cannot be the official policy of the U.S., but that are signs that the president understands clearly the reality on the ground and U.S. interests.
That is good because tiptoeing around the threat posed by Putin, hoping that accommodating him would lead to moderation in his behavior certainly has not worked. Indeed with every respectful, restrained response to Putins aggression or abuses, we have only seen an escalation of his offenses.
As Bad as the World Looks Right Now, Its Actually Worse
The measured responses to his aggression of the Bush or the Obama years did not work. Nor did the slavering obsequiousness of former President Donald Trump. Indeed, the ostpolitik of Angela Merkel and the vacillations of French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders have actually aided and empowered Putin.
No doubt Putins allieslike the talking heads at Fox News, the leaders of the MAGA caucus on Capitol Hill, and Putinistas across Europewill warn that to even speak of the need to remove Putin from office will provoke him, perhaps even lead him to unleash nuclear weapons in Ukraine or against the West. How do we know that? Because that was the response to Bidens moment of public honesty and realism on this issue.
Many others, including some well-respected foreign policy experts, suggested we should not corner Putin with a public stance demanding his removal.
Some of those experts correctly observe that the U.S. has a checkered history seeking regime change. They argue that there are no good alternatives to Putin, and so getting rid of him might produce an even worse outcome, whether that is the chaos associated with a leadership void or a more dangerous leader.
But go back and listen to his Friday speech. It makes clear that we are well past the point where the dangers of his remaining in power are greater than the dangers that might be caused by his fall.
Further, removing the worlds autocrats and thug heads of state has actually not generally produced worse successors. That was certainly true in the cases of Hitler, Mussolini, Milosevic, Pol Pot, and many others.
Next, acknowledging that Putin must go is not the same as making regime change a matter of public policy. For governments it can (and largely should) remain an unexpressed goal.
That said, certain sanctions imposed on Russia should remain in place until Russia changes key policies and positions that are indelibly associated with Putin, which in effect will mean until Putin is gone. Certain defensive postures of the west should remain in place until the threat from Russia has abated. We can do more than we currently are to help covertly support Russias opposition, especially those whose values align with ours.
Perhaps most importantly, we can ensure that any sort of lasting Russian victory in Ukraine is not an option and that Putins terms will never be met, his aggression never rewarded.
With such policies, we can actively encourage the people of Russia to recognize that their country will not have a future as long as Putin remains in power. Putin is assisting on this front. By undertaking a massive military conscription campaign, one that may call up as many as 1 million troops, who will then be under-equipped, under-trained, and likely victims of a war they did not seek against neighbors who are not in any ways their enemies, he has already lit the fuse on a potential national backlash. Millions and millions of Russians will increasingly feel the pain and loss associated with Putins war in ways that they did not before, in ways that Russian propaganda cannot hide or dress up.
Putins Headed Toward Defeat in Ukraine. The Only Question Is How Bad a Loser Hell Be.
Protests in Russia are already growing bolder.
Celebrities and business leaders are speaking out more clearly. How long will it be before the security services that surround and protect Putin begin to see the fact that he is a threat to their well-being, to their lives, to the futures of their families?
Accepting the reality that Putin must go is just common sense at this point. Recognizing that reality, we should embrace policies that encourage the conditions that will make it come to pass. We should also prepare for the consequences of such a change and make sure to send Moscow the message that Russias neighbors and the community of nations welcome a more responsible Russiawhile also making clear that we are ready to defend ourselves against one that makes the mistake of continuing (or making worse) Putins policies.
As for making the case to the Russian people that they must act, we need not do that. Putin, with speeches like Fridays and self-inflicted catastrophes like Ukraine, is already doing that far more persuasively than we could hope to do.
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Putin Has Left the World No Other Option But Regime Change
- Putins Character Was Clear Long Before He Retreated to the Far End of the Table - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- More than 4,300 people arrested at anti-war protests across Russia - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Putin miscalculated if he thinks West will move on after Ukraine invasion: ambassador - Global News [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Poutine not Putin: classic Quebec dish off the menu in France and Canada - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- TikTok suspends new content and livestreaming in Russia after Putin signs 'fake news' law - Fox Business [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Putins Other Nuclear Threat - The Wall Street Journal [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Sen. Lindsey Graham's apparent call for Putin to be assassinated draws backlash - NPR [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Washingtons Newest Worry: The Dangers of Cornering Putin - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Ukrainians Are Heroic Wartime Fighters but Vladimir Putin's Ready to Unleash Hell - The Daily Beast [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Putin's Henchmen Rage About Getting Trolled With 'Endless Photos' of Dead Russian Troops - The Daily Beast [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Letters: the roots of Vladimir Putins invasion ambitions - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Putin Proves There Are Worse Things Than American Power - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Here's how Putin protects himself from assassins and coup plots - New York Post [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Social media turn on Putin, the past master - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Putin slithered into Ukraine as Biden dithered - New York Post [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Ukraine crisis: Russian President Vladimir Putin cornered over invasion 'miscalculation' - how will he react? - Sky News [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Fighting traps residents in Mariupol; Putin calls on Ukraine to surrender - Reuters [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Why Vladimir Putin is losing the information war to Ukraine - Atlantic Council [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- How far will Putin go and how far will America go to stop him? - CBS News [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Wading in blood won't stop Putin's doom from growing ever closer - New York Post [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Vladimir Putin - Ex-Wife, Age & Facts - Biography [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- After Putin-Macron Call, France Sees Russia Wanting 'All Ukraine' - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Letter: Party of Putin? - Post Bulletin | Rochester ... [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Putin is afraid Russians will see freedom on their own ... [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Are there off ramps for Putin? [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- Israeli prime minister meets with Putin to discuss Ukraine ... [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- John Bolton: Putin was 'waiting' for possible US ... [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2022]
- 'Putin is Hitler': why we use analogies to talk about the Ukraine war, and how they can lead to peace - The Conversation Indonesia [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Mysterious: the $700m superyacht in Italy some say belongs to Putin - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- UK's Johnson: Putin has 'crossed the red line into barbarism' | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Putin ally warns of nuclear dystopia due to United States - Reuters [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Putin will have 'no choice' but to stop Ukraine invasion: former US general - Business Insider [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Cold war echoes as African leaders resist criticising Putins war - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Putin's invasion of Ukraine is seen as his biggest ever mistake and it will harm Russia for years to come - CNBC [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Putin's army is dwindling and other commentary - New York Post [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Why do Putin, Trump, Tucker Carlson and the Republican party sound so alike? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- We were leaked the Panama Papers. Heres how to bring down Putins cronies - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Biden: butcher Putin cannot be allowed to stay in power - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Joe Scarborough: It's time for Putin to start worrying what the United States thinks - MSNBC [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Putin should think about the consequences of asking for energy payments in rubles, Germany says - CNBC [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Opinion | Putin and the Myths of Western Decadence - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Books About Russian President Putin and the Forces that Shaped Him - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- What Is Putin Thinking? - The New Yorker [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Biden Says of Condemning Putin: I Make No Apologies - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- How Putin Conquered Russia's Oligarchy : Planet Money - NPR [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2022]
- Ukraine fatigue is setting in, just as Putin hoped it would - iNews [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2022]
- The roots of Putin's ultranationalism and war on Ukraine - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2022]
- The US anticipated almost every move Vladimir Putin made in Ukraine. This is how they probably did it - ABC News [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2022]
- Opinion | Rebuilding Ukraine Will Be Costly. Here's How to Make Putin Pay. - POLITICO [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2022]
- Opinion | How to Defeat Putin and Save the Planet - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2022]
- Putin promotes Chechen leader with ties to murder of Kremlin critic - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2022]
- Putin on the fritz? U.S. not buying Russia's deescalation talk. - POLITICO [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2022]
- Opinion | I Didnt Think My Mother Would Escape Putin Twice - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Some U.F.C. Fighters Have Ties to a Chechen Leader Loyal to Putin - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Former Russian lawmaker fighting for Ukraine says he thinks Putin's days are numbered because 'no dictator can survive after losing the war' - Yahoo... [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Is Putin Destined to Win the Battle for Mariupol? - 19FortyFive [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- For Putin, It's All About the Money - TIME [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- US hedge funders new book reveals terrifying life on the run from Putin - New York Post [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Lonely Putin Is Losing Control of His Own Spiraling Minions - The Daily Beast [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Putin can't take much more of this: What lies ahead, defeat or apocalypse? - Salon [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Putin says peace talks with Ukraine are at dead end, goads the West - Reuters.com [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Coons Says 'Putin Will Only Stop When We Stop Him' When Pressed on US Troops - Newsweek [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Zelensky warns the world to 'prepare' for Putin to unleash a nuclear attack - New York Post [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Austrian chancellor: Putin 'in his own war logic' - POLITICO [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Vladimir Putin's next move revealed as Russian President ... [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Austrian chancellor: Putin believes he is winning [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Putin Says American Reporter Is Too Beautiful to ... [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2022]
- Vladimir Putin is 'not as much in control as people think he is' - Sky News Australia [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Ukraine war: Wimbledon 'will ban Russian and Belarusian tennis players' over Putin's invasion - Sky News [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Putin plans to force mobilized Ukrainians to storm positions of Ukraines Armed Forces intel report - Ukrinform [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Putin's Unholy War - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Putin Hunted Me Down All Over the World - The Daily Beast [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Despite Putin's claims that the West's 'economic blitzkrieg strategy didn't work,' Moscow's mayor says the city is about to lose 200,000 jobs - Yahoo... [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Putin's War Threatens Neon, Palladium, and Aluminum Supplies - Foreign Policy [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- For the Putin-admiring Trump cult, Ronald Reagan would be just another RINO - Haaretz [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Hundreds of thousands flee Russia and Putins two wars - Al Jazeera English [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Putin on the brink of major 1905 humiliation after disastrous naval defeat - Express [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Biden blames Putin for inflation, warns war in Ukraine will 'continue to take its toll' on economy - Fox News [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Sanctioned Russian bank founder Oleg Tinkov condemns 'insane' Ukraine war, calls on West to give Putin face-saving exit - CNBC [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]
- Ukraine Latest: Putin Popularity Still High as Russian Elite Question War's Toll - Bloomberg [Last Updated On: April 20th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2022]