Putin’s political genius is that he understands that, for Russians, being perceived as powerful is even more important than actually being powerful. He does not need to modernize Russia so that it can actually compete with the world’s mightiest powers; he just needs to bluster enough that people – particularly his own – believe that Russia is once again among the first rank of nations.
普京的政治天才在于他明白对越罗斯人而言，被人看作强大甚至比真正的强大还重要。他不需要使俄罗斯现代化到能与世界上最强大的国家不相伯仲；他只需要雷声大，雨点小，让人们&#45;&#45;特别是他的自己人&#45;&#45;相信俄罗斯再次跻身于世界一线强国之林。