Vladimir Putin never stops playing geopolitics, and in a twisted and evil sort of way, it's an entirely rational thing for him to do. Russia is economically weak and militarily inferior to the United States. It has nuclear weapons, but it can't match our arsenal. It has natural resources - particularly natural gas and other energy reserves - but the U.S. has more and now that we're finally exploiting them, the Russians are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to manipulating world markets.
Boris Yeltsin believed Russia could and should align more closely with the west. Putin does not. He wants to restore the former glory of Mother Russia as a geopolitical counterforce to the United States. And while he can't match our military or economic power, he can take advantage of our global pain points and exploit the American political fecklessness that is usually in abundance.
