David Ignatius: Team Russia – world police
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as he chairs a session of the State Council's Presidium at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on October 19, 2015.
The godfather of Russia's military intervention in Syria is Yevgeny Primakov, a former prime minister and intelligence chief and for decades his nation's leading Arabist. A hint of Primakov's influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin came in the unusual eulogy that Putin delivered at his friend’s funeral in Moscow four months ago.
