Strategic Assessment
Among the central topics that have lately received widespread coverage in the American press is the improving international status of Russia, and within this new reality, the role of its president, Vladimir Putin. More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, an attempt once again is underway to emphasize the importance and influence of Russia on the international scene. Today Russia is pursing policies and taking actions that it abandoned over the last sixteen years. The post-Soviet economic regression has ended, and Russia is boosted by the fantastic wealth of its vast and varied energy sources and the high prices they currently command. This wealth has enabled Putin to adopt a contrary and belligerent policy vis-à-vis is the United States and the West, his objective being to restore Russia’s former glory and consolidate Russian’s status once again as a power to be reckoned with.