We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.

Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
"There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".

Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
"Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.

Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/01/politics/us-intelligence-putin-state-of-mind/index.html

The above is an interesting read - what intelligence agencies are trying to decode about Putin's recent behaviour.

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 6:11:35 AM UTC-5, Andy Evans wrote:
>
> We haven't heard much about the state of
> Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about
> him being "mad" whatever that means.

Are you writing an opera about Putin?
Otherwise, please OT this article! ;-)

dk

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 7:45:02 AM UTC-5, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 6:11:35 AM UTC-5, Andy Evans wrote:
> >
> > We haven't heard much about the state of
> > Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about
> > him being "mad" whatever that means.
>
> Are you writing an opera about Putin?
> Otherwise, please OT this article! ;-)
>

How about "Putin and the Nukes"?
Inspired by "L'enfant et les sortilèges".

dk

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 8:05:06 AM UTC-5, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 7:45:02 AM UTC-5, Dan Koren wrote:
> > On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 6:11:35 AM UTC-5, Andy Evans wrote:
> > >
> > > We haven't heard much about the state of
> > > Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about
> > > him being "mad" whatever that means.
> >
> > Are you writing an opera about Putin?
> > Otherwise, please OT this article! ;-)
> >
> How about "Putin and the Nukes"?
> Inspired by "L'enfant et les sortilèges".
>

Anna Netrebko in the leading role.
Gergiev to conduct the premiere,
with the Red Army orchestra in
the pit.

dk

On 02 Mar 2022 Dan Koren wrote:

>> > Are you writing an opera about Putin?
>> > Otherwise, please OT this article! ;-)
>> >
>> How about "Putin and the Nukes"?
>> Inspired by "L'enfant et les sortilèges".
>>
>>
> Anna Netrebko in the leading role.

Vladimir Putin as a transsexual? That's a very courageous suggestion.
You'd better keep a very low profile from now on.;-)

Chris

On Wednesday, 2 March 2022 at 12:45:02 UTC, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> Are you writing an opera about Putin?
> dk

I'm sure an opera WILL be written about Putin. We've already had Nixon in China.

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

(Recent Y. upload):

Does Putin Have Dark Triad Traits? | Vladimir Putin Case Analysis

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 11:09:08 AM UTC-8, gggg gggg wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> > We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
> >
> > Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> > "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
> >
> > Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> > "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
> >
> > Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
> (Recent Y. upload):
>
> Does Putin Have Dark Triad Traits? | Vladimir Putin Case Analysis

(Recent Y. u.):

Inside the mind of Vladimir Putin

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 6:08:26 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> On Wednesday, 2 March 2022 at 12:45:02 UTC, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> > Are you writing an opera about Putin
>
> I'm sure an opera WILL be written about
> Putin. We've already had Nixon in China.

"Putin in Kiev" ?!?

dk

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

(Recent Y. upload):

Fmr. Lithuanian President: Putin's Mind Is "Deteriorating" | Amanpour and Company

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

(Recent Y. upload):

Is Putin Losing His Grip on Sanity?

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind,

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/what-vladimirs-thinking/comments?s=r

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

(Recent Y. upload):

Putin Has A ‘Russo-Centric Delusional View Of The Rule’ Says Rep. Connolly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMNN68yiL9Y

On Saturday, 12 March 2022 at 20:14:12 UTC, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMNN68yiL9Y

thanks for that - very interesting

On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 6:16:59 PM UTC-5, Andy Evans wrote:
> On Saturday, 12 March 2022 at 20:14:12 UTC, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMNN68yiL9Y
>
> thanks for that - very interesting

Excellent speaker. Thanks!

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

Concerning P.'s state of m., isn't constantly looking for NEW WORLDS TO CONQUER what he is preoccupied/obsessed with?

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

NEW WORLDS TO CONQUER - isn't that what Putin''s preoccupied/obssessed with?

On Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 2:11:49 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> > We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
> >
> > Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> > "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
> >
> > Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> > "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
> >
> > Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
> NEW WORLDS TO CONQUER - isn't that what Putin''s preoccupied/obssessed with?

And isn't that why the rest of Europe had better start worrying?

On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 3:16:59 PM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> On Saturday, 12 March 2022 at 20:14:12 UTC, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMNN68yiL9Y
>
> thanks for that - very interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BNLRyOWAZM

dk

On Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 2:57:41 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
> On Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 2:11:49 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
> > On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> > > We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
> > >
> > > Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> > > "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
> > >
> > > Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> > > "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
> > >
> > > Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
> > NEW WORLDS TO CONQUER - isn't that what Putin''s preoccupied/obssessed with?
> And isn't that why the rest of Europe had better start worrying?

https://news.yahoo.com/russia-may-not-stop-ukraine-100921388.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ6wXFY8tns

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

- Force always attracts men of low morality.

Albert Einstein

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 3:11:35 AM UTC-8, Andy Evans wrote:
> We haven't heard much about the state of Putin's mind, apart from loose talk about him being "mad" whatever that means. We have comments from Macron that he seems to have changed recently and become more isolated from dialogue. We have had talk of him trying to emulate Peter the Great and his expansionistic outlook. He himself has stated he regards Ukraine as part of Russia. So my interpretation is that he has become a man in the grip of an obsession, or "idée fixe" - a preoccupation of mind firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The victim of idée fixe is understood to be unaware of the unreality of their frame of mind. A person in the grip of this can think, reason and act like other people, but is unable to stop a particular train of thought or action.
>
> Examples of an idée fixe would be Don Quixote and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle writes in The return of Sherlock Holmes
> "There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the 'idée fixe', which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man might form such an idée fixe... and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage".
>
> Even the West has experienced this relatively recently. George Bush's counter-terrorism chief Richard A Clarke said of him:
> "Iraq was portrayed as the most dangerous thing in national security. It was an idée fixe, a rigid belief, received wisdom, a decision already made and one that no fact or event could derail". More sinister forms were Hitler's obsessions and Napoleon's obsession with imposing a neo-Roman political culture on Europe.
>
> Political leaders in the grip of an idée fixe do not last - they are deposed or defeated in war. I'm guessing that Putin doesn't have too long to go as the leader of Russia. I'd probably give him to the end of the year.. I don't see his idée fixe leaving him. It is the people around him that will start leaving him. Those in the grip of an idée fixe should be aware of The First Law of Holes. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

Does this describe Putin's mind?:

- Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.

Niccolo Machiavelli