Enlarge image
Mikhail Khodorkovsky (archive):
"Any sign of weakness towards Putin is a big mistake"
Photo: Hannibal Hanschke/dpa
The great leap backward
Mikhail Khodorkovsky on how to deal with the "bandit" in the Kremlin
A former oil mogul and political prisoner warns the West it must face down Vladimir now or prepare for something worse
I have been fighting a personal war with Vladimir Putin for nearly 20 years.
It led to my being jailed in Russia for ten years and then expelled, with a warning that life imprisonment awaited me if I ever returned.
Do I know the man who did all this to me?
I think I do.
That is why I look with despair at the defeatist approach of Western leaders, such as Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Naftali Bennett.
It is difficult for me to judge how their actions are seen by their electorates.
However, I know well how they are perceived by Mr Putin, sitting at the end of his long table.
They fly to Moscow, call him, ask him to stop, but assure him that they will not interfere and do not want him to perceive certain movements as a provocation.
The president sees all of this as weakness, and that is extremely dangerous.
Part of the problem is that the current leaders of Western countries have never dealt with thugs.
Their experience and education relate to interactions between statesmen.
The principle of these people's behavior is that both sides concede to each other in the interests of their electorate or subjects.
War is evil to them, and the use of force is a last resort.
Politicians are dealing with a thug by nature
This is not the case with Vladimir Putin.
He was raised in the KGB, an organization that relied on force and disregard for the law.
While working at St Petersburg City Hall in the early 1990s, he was responsible for the informal interaction of the law-enforcement agencies with gangsters.
St Petersburg at that time was perceived in Russia just as Chicago was seen during prohibition.
Instead of smuggled whisky, the gangsters were selling drugs and oil.
Times changed but his ways of solving issues remained.
Some of the conversations between his confidants and known criminals, made public after an investigation by Spanish prosecutors, help us to understand how the murder of Alexander Litvinenko and the poisoning of Alexey Navalny and the Skripals came at the nod of the ringleader.
Such acts are the norm within the president's circles, because he is a thug by nature.
Even after more than 20 years in power, having acquired a strongman image and self-confidence, a bandit will always remain a bandit in terms of his perception among those around him.
It is a drastic mistake when he is seen as a normal statesman.
Russia's foreign partners fail to understand who he really is.
The most dangerous thing is to show any weakness or uncertainty
I have plenty of experience of dealing with bandits.
After spending ten years in Russian prisons, I can say that the most dangerous thing is to show them any weakness or uncertainty.
Any step towards their demands, without a clear demonstration of strength, will be perceived as weakness.
Following their logic, if Western countries say they will not give up Ukraine and yet they do exactly that, it means that they are weak.
And that makes it likely that Mr Putin will look towards other neighbours, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, who were also previously part of the Russian Empire.
Read more with manager magazin+
Understand more, achieve more
Exclusive insider stories, trends and background information.
Your advantages with manager magazin+
All m+ articles on manager-magazin.de
exclusive editorial research and the best of The Economist
Read manager magazine
as an app and e-paper - on all your devices
Try one month for free
can be canceled online at any time
One month for €0.00
Try it now for €0.00
Already have a digital subscription?Sign up here
Continue reading with manager+
Always an insight ahead
Your advantages with manager+
manager magazine+
in app
Harvard Business Manager+
in app
Read manager magazin and Harvard Business manager
as an e-paper in the app
All articles in the manager app
for only €24.99 per month
Buy now
Already have a digital subscription?Sign up here
Restore iTunes subscription
manager+ is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with confirmation of purchase.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically extended by one month at the current price of €24.99.
You can cancel your subscription at any time in your iTunes account settings.
To use manager+ outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a manager ID account immediately after purchase.
By purchasing you accept our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.