Putin was KGB, just who do you think it was doing the gaslighting?! Pulease!!! Russia needs someone who builds things as a leader, not some guy who specializes in disinformation, gaslighting, and conspiracy theories to try to distract people from the unhappy state of their own prospects. Putin was a spy, he was all about head-games, not reality.
You don’t think North Korea is relevant? Than just take a look at how China tries to throw its weight around in any number of other countries, Australia is an example, so is Lithuania. Heck, I’ve even dealt with their bossy censoriousness on my own ground in my own country over requirements for English majors, that are looking for employment locally.
China is winning. Who is going to invest in the West anymore, where everything is nationalized on a whim?