Zhang Zhikun: How did Putin's "confidence" come from?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is quite confident now, which can be seen from his recent State of the Union address. 12 1, the annual Russian President's State of the Union address, Putin seems quite relaxed. The once severe western sanctions and the resulting economic situation have now become easy for Putin, and now he is waving an olive branch to the United States and the West. Although he can't be said to be a complacent winner, he can't see the slightest anxiety from it, which is quite relaxed.

What kind of confidence is this?

There may be no three or four statements about Putin's self-confidence. So far, Russia has not summarized this aspect. From the spectator's point of view, Putin's self-confidence is probably only one, and that is a high degree of strategic self-confidence, which has become his prominent feature. This confidence has the following characteristics.

First, courage is the soul of strategic self-confidence.

To measure a person's strategic quality, a relatively high evaluation is the word "great wisdom and courage". In my opinion, it is hard to say that people with great wisdom must have great courage, but people with great courage must derive great wisdom, because courage is the source of wisdom, and without courage to support it, they will be scared to death in the face of crisis. Where is the room for wisdom? As the saying goes, if you are scared, you will naturally be at a loss. Therefore, Putin's self-confidence, the first or most fundamental soul, is the spirit of courage. Supported by this brave spirit, he dares to fight and play games with powerful opponents. This kind of self-confidence is not the kind of self-confidence that tries to curry favor with and befriend, nor the kind of self-confidence that money makes the mare go, but the kind of self-confidence that is not afraid of ghosts and does not believe in evil. On the contrary, if there is such a country or such a kind of people, they think that they must cooperate with the United States, and there is no way out except cooperation; Think that you must never offend the United States, and offending the United States will not have a good result; I think we must follow the United States at all costs, otherwise we will not be able to achieve prosperity, and so on. Under such conditions, what is this confident soul?

Second, patriotism is the essence of strategic self-confidence.

It is precisely because of strong patriotic feelings that Putin can stand firm strategically and the Russian nation can stand firm in the crisis. Patriotism has condensed the whole of Russia into a powerful fortress. Now it is politically powerful, economically feasible, strategically more coveted, and every move has a deterrent effect.

However, strong patriotism did not fall from the sky, nor was it shouted out, but was created by strong actions. Putin has been resolutely cracking down on all Russian traitors and running dogs who sell themselves to the West, and will never be soft. They are either sent to prison or sent to hell, and they will never be honored as guests, let them enter the room or March in the city. If this is not the case, can patriotism be established by shouting "bright sword" in unison from top to bottom, but actually just paying lip service and playing a trick of listening to the sound of stairs and not seeing people coming down? If there is no strong patriotism, can the so-called strategic self-confidence and even all self-confidence be believed? The result is just an empty shell.

Third, impressive performance is the foundation of self-confidence.

Any self-confidence should have a process of accumulation, relying on the accumulation of major practical achievements and achievements, through fierce struggle, rather than relying on theoretical interpretation and deduction to decorate. For example, Putin, if he can't defeat Ukraine and recover Crimea in the struggle with the West, will he have strategic confidence? Will the Russian people have strategic self-confidence as a result? Putin not only recovered Crimea, but also won the geopolitical battle in Syria and gained a firm foothold in the Middle East. Now Iran is close to Russia, Turkey is close to Russia, and Japan is as honest and respectful as its grandson in treating Russia. Such impressive performance makes people hard to be confident. On the contrary, if a country is always humbled and indignant when dealing with foreign countries, its greatest ability is to "make solemn representations" and get nothing as a result. Where does this confidence come from? It should be noted that anyone who spends money on things will strategically "exchange money for peace", such as the famous "Temple Alliance" in China's history, which takes the road of peaceful development like the Song Dynasty, which is the least enterprising. No matter how some people rehabilitated the Song Dynasty, it is difficult to change the tragic history of China in that period.

Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin has a high strategic prestige at home and abroad. He is invincible at home, and Russia will be the master in the future. Therefore, Russia's stability and unity will not be a problem. He is recognized as the highest-level geostrategist in the world, so Russia will not suffer in the international strategic arena in the future. Can such a character be unconfident?

China is also confident, in terms of quantity, maybe more confident than Russian. But comparing Russian Putin's confidence with China's, we always feel that our confidence in China is even worse. What is the difference? The author's brain has not been bright, please help me open it.