Russian President Vladimir Putin has been described as the most “powerful” and “influential” man in the world, but do these assessments accurately capture reality? Putin is undoubtedly the most powerful man in Russia, but how much control does he actually have over the country’s bureaucracy? And is there actually a grand strategic vision underpinning his foreign adventurism in Venezuela, Syria and Ukraine? In this week’s podcast interview, WPR’s associate editor, Elliot Waldman, discusses these questions with Mark Galeotti, an honorary professor at University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the author of “It’s Time to Talk […]