Putin: His own worst enemy

DICTATORS have one common goal: regime survival. Rulers of democratic countries do not have this obsession; they have clearly defined terms of office. They are elected for fixed terms under a presidential system of government, or they serve so long as they enjoy the majority support of the members of parliament in a parliamentary system of government.

Dictators can remain in power only so long as they can manipulate events. In doing so, they choose paths that will preserve the regime. In this regard, a favorite trick of dictators is to use foreign adventures to ensure domestic support. Hitler before World War 2 best illustrates how a dictator perpetuates himself in power by foreign adventures. In 1935, he reoccupied the Rhineland; in 1938, he instigated the Anschluss with Austria; and in 1938-1939, he lured the British Prime Minister Neville Chaberlain into the infamous Munich Agreement. Had Hitler stopped his aggression after gobbling up Czechoslovakia in 1939, he could have ended up presiding over the Third Reich as the most powerful country in Europe.