President Vladimir Putin has carefully crafted an image as a strong man of action — one whose will and power have single-handedly restored Russia’s status as a great power. Unfortunately, this often translates into acts that are illegal, immoral and ruthless. Putin and his proxies have annexed territory in neighboring Ukraine, conspired with an evil dictator in Syria to kill hundreds of thousands, violated American sovereignty during the 2016 presidential election, attempted to assassinate a former Russian intelligence officer on the territory of a NATO country, and, most recently, attacked Ukrainian vessels in international waters and kidnapped two dozen Ukrainian sailors. But, of course, for Putin and his admirers at home and abroad, the end justifies the means. And the end, or so the narrative goes, is to make Russia great again.

Putin’s defenders would argue that he has, along the way, scored some genuine foreign policy successes. The world is quietly becoming receptive to recognizing Crimea as part of Russia. Putin’s ally in Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is winning the war there. Putin’s efforts inside the United States did help President Trump win, and that victory has weakened American leadership on the world stage — a clear plus for the Kremlin. And Putin’s latest attack on Ukraine last month has yielded only meek responses of concern from the international community. Some leaders in the West, including Trump, have convinced themselves that the only way to deal with a resurgent Russia is appeasement and accommodation.