US policy towards Russia has been screwed up ever since the collapse of the USSR. Instead of embracing our former enemies, we pushed NATO to their borders, talked down to them, and broke our promise not to attack Libya. Putin then agrees to bail Obama out of his "red line" dilemma in Syria and his reward is Obama encouraging the Ukraine to move away from Russia. Putin's actions in that region are deplorable but, from his point of view, necessary, otherwise, he would have faced a revolt at home. The Politburo may have disappeared, but collective leadership is still present behind-the-scenes.