Story highlights Vladimir Putin's Syria operation is about more than keeping Bashar al-Assad in power

He is leveraging the crisis in Syria to make a point that Obama has failed where he can succeed

Putin also wants to "change the conversation" about Ukraine, frustrate the U.S. abroad, burnish his image at home

(CNN) On Russian TV -- breathtaking video of missiles launched from Russian ships in the Caspian Sea, streaking into the night sky, racing almost a thousand miles to their targets in Syria, exploding, the reporter boasts, no more than nine feet from their targets.

Russia's surprise strategy in Syria, a ruthless triad of military attack, diplomatic maneuvering and verbal broadsides against the West, has shocked the United States and its allies.

President Vladimir Putin is making one thing crystal clear: He will go to the mat to keep the Syrian President in power, at least for now.

But this is not just about Bashar al-Assad. In an aggressive challenge to the West, Putin is demanding to be taken seriously as a major player, not only in Syria or the Middle East, but in the world.

Just yesterday, it seemed, Putin was a pariah, kicked out of the G-8 for annexing Crimea, his economy reeling from economic sanctions.

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