Originally Posted by TheSquealer

To be fair, Putin is a genius. He is an apex predator that is always playing chess to everyone's checkers all the time.

Do you remember how he got elected the first time? Of course not. It was the most brilliant coup ever in history. No one noticed. No one cared. No one said a single word. World Bank, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and all the many nations offering up international loans,... never missed a beat. The flow of cash into Russia at a time when they were basically bankrupt never stopped flowing. It was almost magical how he took control of a nation where just 5 years before Yeltsin actively tried to splinter and destroy the KGB.

Yeltsin had outlived his usefulness, the "Oligarchs" had been deemed to have stolen enough and he slid right into the Kremlin. A lowly deputy to the Governor of St Petersurg region. In what was clearly a brokered agreement, he was made Prime Minister (Yeltsin was President) after many many Prime Ministers were fired by Yeltsin as they became popular. No one had heard of Putin at that time. The hot button issue was Chechnya and Russia l(great in their own minds) lost a war to a band of villagers aremed with AKs and RPGs and Druganovs and a will to fight, Coming right on the heels of the collapse of the Soviet Union, this was a huge blow to Russians egos. As Prime Minister he started talking hinting at revisiting the Chechen peace deal, then started getting a little more vocal about it and the "greatness of our nation" kind of stuff and then magically, little skirmishes began happening all around Chechnya. He vowed to crack down. The elections happened right then and he won by a legitimate landslide. Next thing you know a convoy of "Chechens" crashed a military checkpoint into Dagestan, apartment buildings started blowing up in Moscow, "Operation Whirlwind" was in full effect where you couldn't drive more than 2-3km without a police checkpoint, flak jackets, full tactical gear etc... and unsuprisingly, a lot of "Chechens" were caught with stolen weapons systems to smuggle out etc etc etc and next thing you know, the tanks are headed back to Grozny and Chechnya is now Russia and Putin is on his 4th term.

But he took a lot of dark turns along the way and now has become one of the Oligarchs he was originally fighting against.

Obama and Hillary just couldn't understand Russians. They only respect strength and power. They instinctively roll right over weakness. But there is one thing that Putin and anyone in power in Russia have never wanted and do not want... ever and that is a strong USA.