The will of the people should be respected, but.. Putin is of course exploiting the whole "Us vs them" trope to full effect. The Russian people are right now behind him, and I don't find that surprising one bit. People tend to follow strongheaded leaders, especially when the country is going through some problems, and especially when there is a perceived or real external threat. (The U.S. does this well too, but I don't think quite as well due to that country's democratic and free speech princples. What I mean - As soon as the cold war was over they were sure to shift the "boogyman" label from "the communists" to "the terrorists". A clear external threat that leaders can exploit to rally people behind them. In Putin's case the external threat is the west and the potential victims are Russians in Russia and especially abroad. If you listen to his speeches, you will hear him make reference to these things. He knows how to exploit them well.)
A single victory on the battlefield can temporarily hide 20 problems with the economy (or whatever) as well, and Putin knows that too.. so he's exploiting it as well. I just wonder how long he can keep this up before it blows up in his face.
All I hope for is that the Russian people see through his BS sooner rather than later. He is essentially trying to throw what he perceives the West's tactics in places like Kosovo back at the U.S. and the rest of the west. It's a very childish way to look at it, but at home it is helping Putin quite a bit.. so I don't think he's going to stop anytime soon. He also wants a buffer zone between Russia and the west and is doing everything he can to make that happen, even if that means illegally sending troops across the border, lying about it, and facing increasingly damaging sanctions.
So I think he is going to be try to be this super tough super awesome leader who does amazing things for his country and isn't afraid enough to face the west for as long as it helps him. You might expect to see a picture of him standing with one foot on a dead bison sometime soon, with of course his shirt off, and a rainbow flaw burning in the distance. Putin is all about his image. In fact, I would even say that his image is really all that exists, as far as we are concerned. Putin's personality is behind a mask that he controls very well. He isn't a mastermind or anything like that, but I believe he just understands the underlying dynamics of PRopaganda very well, so we aren't actually ever seeing what he's all about. We are only seeing what he wants the Russian people to see.
