The Russian bear that is. Having spent roughly 20 years sulking in “hibernation” (and enjoying oil riches) following the 1989 implosion of the Soviet Union, Russian revanchism is now on center stage.
It is not as if Russian President Vladimir Putin did nothing for the 15 years that he has been in power. But much of what he accomplished in making Russia more dynamic was under the radar. Or it affected countries so much on the periphery of U.S./NATO/Western thought that we hardly noticed his intervention in Georgia; violent suppression in Chechnya; or manipulating Nagorno-Karabakh-Azerbaijan. Indeed, it wasn’t until Putin blithely …read more
Source: The Epoch Times
