The Tactician.

I've heard pundits, primarily, Russian ones, talk about Vladimir Putin as a brilliant tactician and a poor strategist.

I've thought about what this means and believe it to be true. Activities such as attacking Georgia on behalf of the Abkhazian minority, the 'lifting' of Crimea from Ukraine and, possibly, the destabilization of eastern Ukraine.

I say 'possibly' because I think that the tactics jury is still out...if Ukraine, overall, remains unstable, it will be a brilliant move..if Ukraine solidifies, then, Putin may find himself facing a long-term, expensive, foe.

In all of the above cases, Putin took a big, military risk, a risk in the hopes that the US or other countries wouldn't respond meaningfully. It paid off, neither a war-mongering president like George Bush nor a pacifist like Barack Obama, elected to respond.

But, the long-term consequences seem to be in the air. In all these cases, Russia's place in the world community is now more in line with North Korea, than a a stable, member of the world community.