In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an unusually strong statement that openly blasted the U.S. and NATO. This led pundits to proclaim that Russia, after two decades of unsuccessful flirtation with Western political models, has returned to its Soviet, century-old totalitarian/authoritarian model and re-emerged as a power hostile to the West.

http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2007/05/2594361