what would Pash have thought of Putin?

Pash is, for me, an interesting figure in this story and, at least in some ways, worthy of respect.

Oppie makes the point, to Lawrence, at one point that he understands better than others what it is for Hitler to have the Bomb, because he is Jewish.

I think that is a very fair point, but it has its counterpart in Pash. Pash, because of HIS personal background, understands better than most other figures in this movie what it meant for Stalin to have the Bomb--and so he works harder than most to prevent that (ultimately, of course, unsuccessfully).

Although Pash is accused of some very bad behavior in this film, I can't say that I blame him for his position that Stalin shouldn't have the Bomb. If Pash had succeeded, in the long term, in keeping the Bomb from Stalin, then Putin wouldn't have it today either, and IMHO the world would be a better place.

This raises for me an interesting question: what would Pash have thought of today's Russia with Putin in charge? Fighting Soviet Communism seems to have been something of a lifelong mission for Pash, and late in life he got to return to Russia and witness the fall of Soviet Communism. Pash died just before Putin started his rise to power.

So I'm wondering--what would Pash think of Putin? On one hand had Pash succeeded in keeping the Bomb from Stalin's USSR, Putin wouldn't have been in a position to inherit the Soviet/Russian nuclear arsenal. OTOH Pash was mostly focused on fighting communists, and Putin isn't (AFAIK) a communist.

Like I say--I think Pash deserves some respect. He may have made some really scary threats, but I think he "got" the danger of the Soviets getting the Bomb better than most--even Groves didn't seem as concerned about this threat as Pash.