George W. Bush Says Putin Has Become More of a ‘Zero-Sum-Type Thinker’

Melissa Quinn / December 07, 2014

Former President George W. Bush today said that in the six years since he’s left the White House, Russian President Vladimir Putin has become more of a “zero-sum type thinker.”

Bush, who attempted to mend relations with Putin during his presidency, spoke about how the Russian president’s thinking has evolved in an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union.”

“It’s almost as if he says that ‘if the West wins, I lose, and if I win, the West loses,'” Bush said, “as opposed to, ‘what can we do together to enhance our respective positions.'”

Crowley went on to ask Bush about President Obama’s strategy to “degrade and destroy” ISIS, the brutal terrorist group also known as the Islamic State. Bush said it’s a “good goal.”

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