Because the dictator they are propping up in Syria is still clinging to power?
Wow, what an achievement.
Maybe because the ruble has lost almost 25% of its value in the past year?
Great success.
Or that its GDP growth is 1.2%, well below the US?
Sounds great.
Or that the average Russian, despite the enormous commodity boom that is now collapsing, still only makes a quarter what the average American does?
Maybe that there have been 35 Russians killed in terrorist bombings on Russian soil in the last three months, as opposed to the US with 3 in the past ten years?
Achievements like those?
Where exactly is Russia heading?
One last question: would you rather stay in a hotel room in Sochi or in Salt Lake City?
I’m not trying to heap any praise on Putin....I’m comparing what the peoples perception of him is to Obama, most people concede he out maneuvered Obama in Syria and made him look like an amateur . Putin’s a thug....if Obama wasn’t also a thug it would be a lot easier to show Putin up for what he is!!! The fact that so many people see Putin on equal terms as the POTUS speaks to dear leaders incompetence more than anything else. This conversation would never have seen the light of day when Ronald Reagan was president because Reagan dwarfed Gorbachev!!