In Russian, there is a word to describe the experience — zakalivaniye. It means “to harden.”
Korenvayn, a native Ukrainian with roots in Russia, says it is a concept U.S. policymakers should consider as they try to pressure Vladimir Putin to withdraw his military from Crimea in the eastern Ukraine.
Mild discomfort will not dislodge him. To expel Russia, he says, the West must be willing to turn up the heat. . .
Joshua Rovner, a national security expert at Southern Methodist University, said one of the biggest wildcards in the crisis is Putin, the Russian leader who enjoys getting his picture taken bare-chested, astride a horse in the wilderness.
“Putin clearly has tried to send a signal of his own toughness,” said Rovner. “He’s put that on himself to try to restore Russian might and prestige. The danger on our part is our reaction to Putin — believing that he is the ruthless, calculating, cold strategist while we are these poor, helpless, reactive and soft rivals.”
That, he said, is a mistake.
Rovner said the U.S. has stumbled in the Ukraine — mainly by supporting a movement that toppled a government allied with Russia, and then being surprised when Russia responded in a way we didn’t like.
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