Paul Roderick Gregory: Why Putin makes a bad ally
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 3.
STANFORD – Russian President Vladimir Putin's intervention in the Syrian conflict has been welcomed by some as a moment for the Kremlin to "come in from the cold." Russia's conflict with the Islamic State, the argument goes, has aligned the country’s interests with those of the West. Even Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane does not seem not to have deflated this optimism.