That’s an easy one: Putin wants respect.
The way he wants to achieve that is by building what he
calls a “multipolar world” in which the U.S. loses its
monopoly as the one and only superpower.
To understand Putin, you got to know
where he’s coming from.
Vladimir Putin was a KGB agent during the Cold War –
when the Soviet Union was a superpower on par with the U.S.
Putin later called the collapse of the Soviet Union the
“greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.”
What he meant by that wasn’t the end of communism
but the fall of a great world power with all the influence
and prestige it once held.
Russians believe the U.S. took advantage of Russia’s
weakness by expanding NATO right up to its borders.
Putin finally drew a red line: First he intervened militarily
in the former Soviet republic of Georgia and then in Ukraine.
It didn’t help that President Obama reacted by calling
Russia only a “regional power” – and slapping multiple
sanctions on Moscow.
In last year’s presidential election, the Kremlin saw
Hillary Clinton as someone who would continue Obama’s policies.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, promised to
improve relations with Russia.
Officially, the Kremlin denies it did anything
to help Trump win the election.
But even Trump’s victory may not help Putin achieve his goal.
That’s because an overwhelming majority in Congress
wants to tighten sanctions against Russia –
and deny Putin what he wants most – respect.
