Vladimir Putin's surprise

Vladimir Putin surprised the world when he sent in his troops to Syria, and surprised the world again when he ordered their withdrawal. He could make such surprise moves because he is not heading a democratic government where every move of the government is scrutinized and because of the confrontational nature of democratic government, criticized. With the circus of the American presidential election process, with the ridiculous collapse of the consensus within the British (and indeed, the New Zealand Labour Party) it is hard to argue the superiority of Western style democracy over the Russian oligarchic system of government. Spies as politicians would not normally be my preferred choice, but lining them up against egocentric billionaires, or even heirs to political dynasties, perhaps I would trust spies more. Putin is walking in the shoes of blood-thirsty monsters, and he is a tough man, proud of his physical and mental toughness, but he is not a Stalin, not an unscrupulous mass murderer. In a world that is not ruled by a sense of moral right and wrong, where democratic states are quite prepared to compromise with ruthless regimes and sell out their allies for the benefits of big busienss, moral compasses that should point to choices of right and wrong keep wobbling.