Pavel K. Baev: Russia is not strong. And Putin is even weaker

Sergey Aleksashenko wants everyone to stop calling Russia weak. He contends that Russia is actually stronger than many people believe - to include U.S. President Barack Obama andBritish military historian Lawrence Freedman among other prominent voices. But Russia is weak and Russian President Vladimir Putin is even weaker. Aleksashenko misunderstands Russian strength because he makes three critical errors. First, he assumes that strength and weakness are static and so fails to look at trends. Second, by focusing on the weakest of Russia's neighbors, he fails to notice that most Eastern European states are not intimidated by Russia. Finally, he wrongly believes that Russia's strengths can be effectively used by Putin to maintain his grip on power.