In the antechamber of Vladimir Putin’s presidential office in the Kremlin hangs a large portrait of Nicholas I, who ruled the Russian empire from 1825 to 1855. As Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the west’s retaliatory economic sanctions summon the spectres of hot and cold wars past, policy makers in Washington and Europe would do well to consider why Mr Putin chose the tsar as the historical figure at whose image visitors must gaze before they enter the president’s room. Then they will be on the right road to answering the question: “How do we deal with Putin?”
在克里姆林宮弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)總統辦公室的接待室里，掛著俄羅斯帝國1825年到1855年的統治者——尼古拉一世(Nicholas I)的巨幅畫像。俄羅斯對克里米亞的吞并，和西方的報復性經濟制裁，召喚起人們對過去熱戰和冷戰時代的恐怖回憶。華盛頓和歐洲的政策制定者最好深刻思考一下，為什么普京要選擇這位沙皇，成為訪客們在進入總統辦公室前必須凝視的歷史人物。然后他們才有希望正確解答一個問題：“我們該拿普京怎么辦？”