Very slim analysis, unworthy of a university professor. I wanted to comment on a few points.

"the near abroad" - Kennedy tried to invade Cuba precisely because the US thinks Cuba is their back yard. Panama, Nicaragua, Grenada, Haiti were all invaded as parts of this same policy of backyard cleanup. China has its South China Sea islands, Argentina has Falklands. Russia's near abroad is not nearly proportional to its size and involves only the countries that share its borders and that have strong cultural, economic and historical connections with it. Russia has legitimate interest in what happens in it's neighborhood, same as anyone else.

Broken promises - This was more of an emotional than a crucial argument presented by Putin as no agreement was signed (and everybody realizes this). It was meant for domestic use, to show Russians that the West is deceitful. As the Cold war ended and the Warsaw pact disappeared, NATO should have been disbanded or reformed as its only purpose was to counter the USSR. The fact that it was not and even started expanding towards Russia could mean only one thing : NATO wanted to contain/break up the Commonwealth of Independent States and ultimately the Russian Federation itself. Encirclement/containment is real as the US now has bases all over eastern Europe and in Afghanistan with plans to include Georgia and Ukraine. A couple of days ago US army joined a military parade in an Estonian border town, driving armored vehicles only meters away from Russian border. Therefore, Russian fear of NATO (which was founded to fight USSR) is real and understanding, even more so because of the history of foreign armies invading them is long (Mongols in 13th century, Napoleon in 1812, Allies in the 1917-22 revolution and Hitler in 1941).

"Russia in the 1990s evinced little concern..." - It is because Russia was lead by a US friend and ally Boris Yeltsin who invented oligarchs and showed Russians that western democracy is a scam. Putin is not Yeltsin. It is not the same Kremlin.

Yeltsin was an easily manipulated alcoholic and a laughing stock for the world as a stereotypical drunk Russian. Putin tried to change this image by showing his fit body, driving motors/planes/hand gliders and restoring the belief of Russians in the state by bringing down the oligarchs. Yes, he is also the first Russian leader who shows that Russians should look after their endangered animals (tigers, cranes,...) and enjoy nature and sport (Putin has black belt in judo) instead of getting drunk. And that makes him "crazier than Rasputin"? I didn't know Rasputin was crazy.

"Georgia mounted a military response..." - Check your facts. Georgia attacked S. Ossetia thinking Russians would not have time or dare to intervene. The truth is that everything that is happening is a series of reactions by Russia (not just "crazy" Putin) to irresponsible actions of the US. Billions of dollars for regime change (Color revolutions) + unscrupulous US diplomats/lobbyists like Victoria Nuland/Samantha Power + puppets like Saakashvili resulted in a disaster. Putin would not waste 50 billion dollars on Sochi games if he planned to invade Ukraine at the same time. He never said he wished insurgents sent more caskets with dead soldiers back to their American mothers. The US army commander for Europe, general Ben Hodges said exactly that about dead Russian soldiers, hoping their mothers pain would ultimately change Putin's policy. Hoping to scare off Russia with sanctions and deaths? Now that is crazy.

