With so much of the news these days being focused on Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, people who never before considered it necessary to study Russia‘s history, its culture, or the psyche of its people have recently found themselves trying to better understand the reasons behind Vladimir Putin’s obsessive drive to reabsorb Ukraine as part of Russia’s rightful territory. And so we turn to the experts.

One such authority is award-winning author, journalist (of the Edward R. Murrow generation), former Harvard professor, and Russia scholar Marvin Kalb. Now 95 years of age, he still hosts The Kalb Report, a monthly discussion of media ethics and responsibility at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., sponsored by George Washington University.

In his 2015 book, Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine, and the New Cold War, he discusses the historical and geopolitical significance of Ukraine to the imperial ambitions of Vladimir Putin, arguing that Putin feels a personal responsibility to rebuild Russia as a Tsarist empire, to which Ukraine is indispensable.

And in that same year, in a discussion on PBS News, Kalb said:

“Russia can never be an empire
unless it is in control of Ukraine.”

He went on to say that Putin regards Eastern Europe as Russia’s back yard, and is willing to fight for whatever he decides is in Russia’s national interest. Russia had already (in 2014) annexed the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea, and had its sights set on parts of eastern Ukraine — the very portion it now occupies. Kalb said that the best outcome for Ukraine at that time would be to come to some sort of understanding with Russia, and not count on the West to come to its rescue.

When asked what we might expect from Putin next if such an accord did not take place — and remember, this was ten years ago, and more than six years before the onset of the 2022 invasion — Kalb replied:

“Whatever would satisfy the immediate
national interest of Russia.”

Which is precisely what we are seeing today.

The lesson: Don’t rely on the know-nothings— the Trumps, the Witkoffs, and the others who never did and never will understand the history or the soul of the Russian people. Look to the real experts, who have the accumulated knowledge and expertise that only comes with a lifetime of study and on-the-ground experience.

And mark their words.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/21/25