Putin: His Downfall and Russia's Coming Crash

To Katya,

May we discuss all this someday

I cannot forecast to you the actions of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.

—WINSTON CHURCHILL[1]

The politics of Russia flow not from her true interests, but from the individual inclinations of specific persons.

—AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR VON KAUNITZ TO MARIA THERESA, IN 1745[2]