Participants: Jason Fields, Mark Galeotti, Matthew Gault

To some in the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intervention is a comment on the failure of the United States and its allies to take control of a horrific situation. These pundits view Putin as a strongman, playing a complicated game of chess against the West … and winning.

Worse, with so many different countries, sects and factions fighting in Syria, it’s easy to see how one wrong missile could spark a greater conflict. Turkey — a member of the North Atlantic Treaty organization — has balked at recent Russian incursions into its airspace.

The annexation of Crimea, the war in eastern Ukraine and the military intervention in Syria present the image of a confident Putin willing to expend military power for political gain. The truth, according to Dr. Mark Galeotti of New York University, is far more complex.

The Russian president faces political and economic difficulties at home and Russia’s military is not as powerful as it seems. “Putin does not have significant numbers of the kind of troops you can deploy in this kind of environment,” Galeotti explained to War College.

Galeotti paints a picture of a Kremlin that’s just trying to get the West to play ball and not trying to start World War III. For Galeotti, Russia’s adventure in Syria is business as usual.

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Show links:

How to respond to Russia in Syria without starting World War III

Putin’s holiday gift is a paranoid new military doctrine

Russia’s electronic spies are hard at work in Syria

Syria’s rebels are ready to fight Russia