Politics with Michelle Grattan
News:Politics
As the West watches appalled at Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine, attention is increasingly turning to the question of Vladimir Putin’s longer term ambition, and the potential for this conflagration to turn into a wider war.
Matthew Sussex, associate professor at the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University and an expert on Russia, believes Putin won’t want to stop at subjugating Ukraine.
“Putin himself seems absolutely personally invested in recreating the footprint at least of the USSR – certainly not its ideology, but its footprint.”
“He has for a long time said that Ukraine doesn’t deserve to exist as a state. That Ukrainians and Russians are just one people driven apart by the West.
"So he has […] achieved some of his aims already.”
“And the worry is, of course, that if Putin gets what he wants in Ukraine, then he will not stop. He will then turn his eyes to Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia – possibly even Poland will be told in a few years time that it doesn’t have the right to exist as a sovereign state.”
On whether there’s a possibility of the war in Ukraine leading to a military conflict with the West, Sussex says: “Absolutely. It is potentially the case that Putin, who is a gambler, will try and up the ante by staging some kind of demonstration of strength against NATO, or perhaps even a provocation directly against NATO troops.
"Many, many wars in history have been started by accident, by overconfidence, by miscalculation. And this is why it’s a very, very dangerous time.”
Stephen Duckett on what's gone wrong with the rollout
Linda Burney on the treatment of Indigenous Women
Sussan Ley on being a woman in politics
Zali Steggall on Monday's march and Scott Morrison's response
Fleur Johns on the rule of law
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Patricia Sparrow on the Royal Commission into Aged Care
Former MP Kate Ellis on the culture in parliament house
David Littleproud on The Nationals and net zero
Anthony Albanese on his new frontbench, Joel Fitzgibbon, and Labor’s imminent workplace policy
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on promising budget figures
Chief Scientist Alan Finkel on climate, energy and emissions
Asia-Pacific expert Bates Gill on China’s endgame
two views on increasing the super contribution
Defence expert Allan Behm on the background to the Brereton report
Joel Fitzgibbon on Labor climate policy and leadership
economist Danielle Wood on Australia’s ‘blokey’ budge
a budget for a pandemic
Chris Richardson on what Tuesday’s budget will and should do
New Zealand’s Helen Clark on the pandemic inquiry and avoiding election ‘cat fights
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Angus Taylor on the 'gas-fired' recovery
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free