"The Soviet Union ceased to exist twenty-five years ago but tensions between Russia and the West have remained high despite the end of the Cold War. The West still seems to be struggling to come to terms with the reality of a post-Soviet Russia and is not clear how to craft its policies towards a Russia that seeks to “regain its lost prestige” under Putin. This work seeks to examine Russia’s trajectory and Western attitudes toward Moscow and analyze the reasons for Russia’s new assertiveness and the global implications of this emerging power play in Eurasia"