He can only get away with things because the West is not acting rationally. And they can't, because they don't have clear goals.

Taking control of Crimea with unidentified troops was a stroke of brilliance. Puting is crazy, but he's not a madman. Whether or not he got to keep it after that depended on what the other side did.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman