Angela Stent: Russia’s Return to the World Stage - YouTube

Over the last decade, Russia has reemerged as a global power. By flexing its military and political muscles beyond its borders, notably in Ukraine with the annexation of Crimea, and in its on-going support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war, Russia has rebuilt its status as a force to be reckoned with among its neighbors and it has slowly edged out the United States as a power broker in the Middle East. Its place on the world stage is also increasingly evident, with the hosting of the Winter Olympics in 2014 and the World Cup in 2018. How has Russia managed to play a weak hand so effectively? How has Putin capitalized on the United States’ growing ambivalence towards its role as a global superpower? Is Putin a brilliant strategist or a talented tactician? What is Russia’s relationship to other key global powers like China and Japan? Angela Stent, former national intelligence officer and current director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian, East European Studies at Georgetown, explore