Just a couple of months ago it was fashionable to laud Vladimir Putin for his strategic genius. American rightwingers contrasted his sure-footedness with their own president’s alleged weakness. In a column entitled “Obama vs Putin, The Mismatch”, Charles Krauthammer argued: “Under this president, Russia has run rings around America.” Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, praised Mr Putin’s decisiveness and cooed: “That’s what you call a leader.” Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence party, said Mr Putin was the world leader he most admired.
就在幾個月前，稱讚弗拉迪米爾•普丁(Vladimir Putin)的戰略天才還是件時髦事。美國右翼人士將他的穩健與美國總統所謂的軟弱作對比。在題爲《歐巴馬vs普丁，實力懸殊》的專欄文章中，查爾斯•克勞特哈默(Charles Krauthammer)指出：「在普丁任下，俄羅斯遠勝美國。」紐約前市長魯迪•朱利安尼(Rudy Giuliani)稱讚普丁的果斷，嘀咕道：「這才稱得上領袖。」英國獨立黨(UKIP)黨魁奈傑•法拉吉(Nigel Farage)稱普丁是他最仰慕的世界領導人。