Russia’s four-month war in Ukraine has sparked renewed speculation about Putin’s eventual demise. Theories about how the Kremlin strongman could be toppled have abounded after he was forced to scale back his ambitions in Ukraine following the invasion in February. Heavy Russian losses on the battlefield have made the war increasingly unviable for Moscow and unpalatable for the Kremlin. Growing dissent within Putin’s inner circle over his leadership has prompted claims that he could face a coup or even assassination by those close to him.
He said: “Even if he could arrange a handover that guaranteed he would not suffer the fate of Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein, how do you replace the incredible mainlining into your reward network of exceptional power?
“There is an awful bleakness and blackness out there awaiting him.”
The expert referred to former Iraqi President Hussein, who was sentenced to death by hanging in 2006 and was taunted by his executioners as he was sent to the gallows.
His brutal death came after he was convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the Dujail massacre.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi, who installed himself as the de facto leader of Libya in a military coup, was killed in 2011.
He said: “The human brain has a single reward network, a single feel-good network that gets switched on.
“Whenever we get paid a compliment. Whenever we have sex. Whenever we take cocaine. Whenever we have power and great success.
“What happens is you get a surge of intense pleasure and satisfaction from the stimulus.
“But as you repeat that at a high level, the brain needs more and more to achieve the same effect. That is called tolerance.
“It is an insatiable appetite. I do not think Putin was born to be an emperor.”
He added: “His brain was profoundly changed by the power he managed to get.”
‘Putin: The New Tsar’ is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.