Vladimir Putin is smiling because he thrives on chaos, particularly in the camp of the “Main Enemy,” a term the Soviet and Russian intelligence services have long used to refer to the United States. He is surely happy as he sees any indication of American uncertainty, irresolution, or confusion as, by definition, beneficial to his country. The Russian leader likely embraces chaos, because like every experienced intelligence officer, he sees in it opportunities to further weaken his American adversary, to collect better intelligence, and to engender yet more chaos so as to do more of the same.

As a graduate of the KGB's Red Banner Institute, Putin must relish the success Russia's “Special Services” have achieved. Indeed, given that he is a “Chekist” at heart, Putin may see himself as the orchestrator of an intelligence coup akin to the so-called “TRUST” operation—a Soviet counterintelligence operation in the early-mid 1920s designed to neutralize the anti-regime activities of Russian émigrés and the intelligence operations of European services—so famous in Soviet intelligence lore.