For over two decades, the enigmatic leader has maintained an iron grip on the Russian state. His leadership is characterized by suppression of dissent, creating a system where criticism is stifled. Putin's reaches into every facet of Russian society, from the media to the judiciary. This firm grip on power has shaped Russia's trajectory in profound

Did America and its allies, via excess of optimism or naïveté, merely get Mr. Putin Improper in the outset? Or was he transformed after some time into your revanchist warmonger of now, regardless of whether as a consequence of perceived Western provocation, accumulating grievance, or maybe the giddying intoxication of prolonged and — because Co