Thanks for commenting!
Again, depends on how you view things. Eight years ago, Putin was able to enlarge his territory with nothing more than squawking from the US and Europe.
The European response was to try and treat Putin as a rational *21st Century* leader who would respond more favorably to carrots rather than sticks. It is why Europe increased its trade with Russia. They gambled that giving Russia more skin in the game with respect to trade would foster good behavior.
But obviously that didn’t work. If he is crazy, then Putin is also not responsible for his actions. But there is logic to his actions, so he is not crazy. He is just trying to apply 18th Century logic to the 21st Century international order.
Being rational does not mean immune to error.