What does Putin really want?

WHO is Mr Putin? That was the question on everyone's lips 18 years ago when Vladimir Putin, then an obscure government official, was handed the keys to the Kremlin by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Against all expectations and with great political acumen, Mr Putin used the vast powers of the Russian presidency to rapidly recentralise power and to dominate the political system. In a few short years, everyone knew who Mr Putin was, the undisputed top Russian leader with autocratic ambitions.

As Mr Putin is set to begin another six-year term as Russian president, a new question has emerged: What does he want? As if to underscore that question for an American audience, in his recent annual address to the Federal Assembly, the Russian Parliament, Mr Putin boasted about Russia's new "invincible" nuclear arms, capable of overcoming any anti-ballistic missile system the United States might field and delivering a devastating blow. Earlier, no one listened to Russia or treated it seriously; now they will, Mr Putin declared. Left unanswered was what Russia wants.

In truth, Mr Putin has long perplexed American leaders, since at least February 2007, when he issued a scathing denunciation of America's alleged designs for global hegemony at a major international conference while the US was still talking about partnership. Concerns about Mr Putin's ambitions abroad soared after he reclaimed the Russian presidency in 2012 and used military force to reassert Russian prerogatives in Europe (Ukraine) and the Middle East (Syria), while persistently questioning the legitimacy of the US-led global order.