Foreign Affairs: The Dangers of Putin’s Paranoia

Silverado's Dmitri Alperovitch explains why Putin's isolation encourages escalation.

03/18/2022 | Dmitri Alperovitch

In a new piece for Foreign Affairs, Silverado's Co-Founder and Executive Director Dmitri Alperovitch analyses the underperformance of the Russian military during the early stages of the invasion of Ukraine and discusses the risk of escalation.

"Unfortunately, the same qualities that led Putin to hide his battle plans from senior leaders in his cabinet make him likely to escalate a conflict that is not going his way. The United States and its allies are in uncharted territory as they attempt to force Putin to back down. Further economic sanctions and even retaliatory cyber-strikes may be necessary if Russia launches cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure, but Washington must not forget that a paranoid and increasingly isolated man rules Russia—one who has already made a series of costly miscalculations."

Read Dmitri's complete analysis here.


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