To Russia, with scepticism

By the same token, nobody in Moscow is plotting a worldwide movement to topple Western regimes and replace them by governments more friendly to the ideas of Putin and Co. And no economists anywhere are arguing that the economic policies of Russia are the key to the salvation of world poverty or injustice.

In other words: yes, Russia is re-asserting its power, but as a net Great Power. It is a large country, whose geographical expanse gives it legitimate interest in what is happening in quite a number of neighbouring countries; it is a major nuclear power; it is a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council; it is using the energy market as a vehicle for enhancing its international clout - but as this happens, it becomes more and more intertwined into the global economic system, and does not even dream of suggesting an alternative one.

Yet while Russia is a strong state, and should be treated with the respect this brings about, it is also a weak and underdeveloped society, with an economy which is dependent on extraction, not production. This puts it again in a unique position - so different not only from the US, but also from China and Japan.

The ten-year period of the eclipse of Russia as an international power is over. But there is no return, nor will there be, to the unique nature of Soviet power. Neither will there be an upswing in the democratisation chances of Russian society. It is a new Russia - totally different from the Soviet Union, but also totally different from those who hoped to discern in it the proof for their triumphalist ideology of the End of History.