Russia is also utterly dependent on purchases of its fossil fuels by the West to keep its economy operating. It suffers from devastating double-digit consumer price inflation and traditionally anemic levels of national production.

And Russia is a very poor country, with a per capita GDP not in the world’s top 50 nations even when raised by “purchasing power parity” calculations. It lacks the resources to impose draconian Soviet-era controls on civil society if truly pressed. A concerted effort to support civil society in Russia will either cause deep disruption socially or economically.

But most of all, Russia stands alone. NATO must emphasize this fact to the Russian people, show them ...

Russia is also utterly dependent on purchases of its fossil fuels by the West to keep its economy operating. It suffers from devastating double-digit consumer price inflation and traditionally anemic levels of national production.

And Russia is a very poor country, with a per capita GDP not in the world’s top 50 nations even when raised by “purchasing power parity” calculations. It lacks the resources to impose draconian Soviet-era controls on civil society if truly pressed. A concerted effort to support civil society in Russia will either cause deep disruption socially or economically.

But most of all, Russia stands alone. NATO must emphasize this fact to the Russian people, show them that it risks provoking a legion of powerful, wealthy nations and has not a single country on its side. It must transmit to Russia’s oligarch class that Putin is a rogue leader who risks returning the nation to a Soviet environment in which no profit is safe and indeed no person.