The Russian leadership is still Communist at it's core. They are good at hiding it.==
You believe in it? Right?:)) It is hard to reconvince man from his beleivings since when he is beleiveing in something he just don't accept the facts.
I think modern Russia is driven by a characteristic of Russia throughout the centuries, the desire to be a maverick country. To be different, for the sake of being different. Russians are leery of being too closely tied to any alliance, even if it may be in her best interests.
But as Churchill said, "Russia is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma." I think Russia is not what it appears to be. I believe that Putin plays a game of publicly going against the US. This gains him trust with our enemies. Using this trust, Russia gains information that gets passed on the US, valuable intelligence we couldn't get any other way.