Could Putin ever be trusted as an ally in the jihad war?
Here are some thoughts.
1) Putin can be trusted to act in his own self-interest. If we elect a patriotic American next year (i.e., never a Democrat), a win-win arrangement might be achieved with Russia. Europe and the democratic nations of Asia would follow.
2) Putin was trained as a KGB agent and a fast-rising career star before the Soviet Empire fell apart. He specialized in studying and infiltrating the West, particularly (West) Germany. He is personally sophisticated, speaks fluent German, and understands Europe and the Middle East as well as any national leader today.
In his words and public actions Putin presents as a classical Russian nationalist leader, using the Russian Orthodox Church as his main ideological support. What the Communist Party used to do for the Kremlin — creating domestic direction and credibility — the Patriarch of Moscow is now doing. If you doubt that, please check the web.
It is always possible that Putin is faking it, but he is a Russian nationalist, and those people have always allied with the Orthodox Church.
Eurosocialists like Obama will never understand it, but Russians know that Putin’s strong support for the Church — building hundreds of new churches and monasteries — creates deep credibility among the Russian people. As far as ordinary Russians are concerned, whether they are atheists or not, Putin’s support of the Church puts him on their side.
After the fall of the Communist delusion, the Russian Church and the state know they must work together. Putin believes that the Soviet Union was a noble experiment that failed, and he experienced the breakdown personally. That was traumatic period, with his own career at risk for years. Putin does not believe in Marxism, except as a way to sucker the Obamas of this world. He learns from the disasters of the past.