Yes, the Kremlin was able to smack down the uppity Mikheil Saakashvili’s hope of reuniting his country by force. But the world saw in Russia’s onslaught against so puny an antagonist a thuggish state determined to recapture its lost empire.
衰落始于普京视为伟大胜利的一个事件-他在8月份对格鲁吉亚的闪击战。是的，克里姆林宫是能毁灭米哈伊尔·萨卡什维利武力统一国家的希望。但是，全世界从俄罗斯攻击如此弱小的对手这一事件中，看到的却是一个一心想重温帝国之梦的恶棍国家。