Originally Posted by Bajadoc

Putin has said that the worse thing that has ever happened in the history of the world is the breakup of the Soviet Union. Everything he thinks and does is through this filter. He will do anything short of self-destruction to reform the USSR. Anything he thinks he can get away with toward the goal of reforming the USSR he will do. In his mind, it is his destiny to rebuild the Soviet Union. And, he is nuts.