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rational security, chatter, law fair no bull, and the aftermath.

This guy is a very modern despot.

He believes that Russians love and admire a strong leader.

He's a very unusual, smart, self-confident man who believes

that he can do things that others can't.

There's a danger in all of this too,

because he has enough military strength to create serious problems.

But he may not have enough political strength in his own position,

because I don't think he's as strong as people claim him to be.

I think there's a very severe vulnerability beneath this man.

And I think that this is a leader who becomes increasingly dangerous

the more he thinks of himself in a corner with the rest of the world against him.

I'm Cody Poplin, and this is a LawFair podcast, October 31, 2015.

That was Marvin Cowell, journalist, scholar, and non-resident senior fellow at Brookings.

Tensions between the United States and Russia are heating up.

With Putin up in the anti-NC, Cowell came to Brookings to launch his new book

that looks at the Russian leaders last for a titled Imperial Gamble.

...