Russian Foreign Policy Is Incomprehensible for a Reason

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has accused "Russians" of organizing a failed coup in Montenegro and the Kremlin denied involvement. The truth, however, is far more complicated thanks to a kind of public-private partnership that often explains Russian meddling overseas. President Vladimir Putin clearly knows of it, and he's sometimes compelled to cover up for its activities, but it's an elaborate series of relationships rather than a chain of command.

Johnson's accusations are based on the recent revelations by Montenegro's top prosecutor Milivoje Katnic, who said one of the leading suspects in last year's alleged coup attempt was a former Russian military diplomat who had been expelled from Poland for spying in 2014. Poland declared Eduard Shishmakov, the naval attache, persona non grata in the wake of a major scandal involving the publication of secret conversations between top Polish officials, including Radoslaw Sikorski, the fiercely anti-Russian foreign minister who was forced to resign. The Polish government believes Shishmakov was working for the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service.