that, looking at post—soviet countries and conflicts there, are there some aspects to putin because my policy where he actually acts as a stabilising force, as he has in kazakhstan? i would argue yes. in terms of kazakhstan, i think kazakhstan has been a hideous dictatorship, but, you know, they had chaos, the russians went in, when they went in, the international expert community exploded with commentaries to the effect that russia was an acting almost kazakhstan, and restoring the ussr. a few days later they seem to be on the way out. —— and nick sing. that —— annexing. that shows that he is not set on creating a great empire, he is trying to sustain friends and clients in central asia, he is doing it with lukashenko in belarus, he knows his limitations, and the fact