Vladimir Putin came to power with a war. He may lose power because of the war of aggression against Ukraine. His choice to invade Ukraine in 2022 marked the culmination of a spiral of diktat and confrontation that started in 2012, when the strongman was challenged by his own people and would not tolerate democratization at home or in Ukraine. The rise of tyranny and the propensity to initiate wars are inextricably linked in Putin’s Russia.