Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest

by Angela Stent

Putin was finally explicit about what he had been hinting at for years—that his dream was not to restore the Soviet Union but to rebuild the Russian empire. The defeat of Ukraine was the first step on that journey, one that was already changing the world.

Anyone who doesn’t regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains. —Vladimir Putin, 20051