The article discusses the questionable comparisons drawn between Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler, suggesting these comparisons diminish the unique horrors of history. It argues that such historical analogies are often oversimplified, with figures like Donald Trump being likened to Neville Chamberlain. Instead of invoking Hitler, a more appropriate historical comparison for Putin might be Joseph Stalin, who manipulated Western leaders for his aims without outright imperial ambitions. The author emphasizes that historical context is essential to avoid misleading parallels that distract from current geopolitical realities.
Godwin's law holds that the longer a political argument continues, the nearer it gets to Hitler. This reductio ad Hitlerum distorts the issue under discussion and diminishes the exceptional horror of Hitler and the Holocaust.
Putin's actions in Ukraine have been horrific enough to need no exaggeration. Trump's sympathy towards him has been eccentric enough.
No post-revolution Russian rulers have sought to invade western Europe. What they have done is suppress and dominate the buffer zone of their immediate neighbours.
A better parallel for Putin is the west's old ally, Stalin. He conned Franklin D Roosevelt at Yalta into believing that after the war he wanted merely to ensure he had friendly democracies along Russia's border.
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