Vladimir Putin, Right-Wing American Masculinity and the Russian Attack on Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, masterminded and led by Putin, is an act of premeditated military aggression and mass violence. One critical element of the story—especially as it concerns the role of the U.S. in this debacle—continues to lurk just beneath the surface of mainstream political analysis: the ways in which white male identity politics has helped to shape the American right’s confused and sometimes counterintuitive responses to the Russian attack.