Charles Crawford is a former British ambassador to Poland and has held other diplomatic postings in Eastern and Central Europe. Meanwhile, "former communist Europe" -- sometimes called "Eastern Europe" -- battled for decades to break from Soviet-imposed communism and find its own voice. In this complex political-psychological situation in Europe, both President Trump and President Putin offer in their very different ways rhetorical cover for defensive, populist instincts. President Trump may be (to put it politely) quixotic and unpredictable. President Putin by contrast knows that he has nothing positive to offer central and eastern Europeans who have long memories of Soviet oppression.

Source: CNN July 06, 2017 08:59 UTC