Paul Goble, originally on Window on Eurasia

Staunton, May 14 – Polls show that many Russians now view their country as once again a great power as a result of the Crimean Anschluss, but that immediate emotional response while very real is neither accurate – this action alone is insufficient for such a status – nor likely to be any longer lasting than the boost Vladimir Putin got from the Sochi Olympiad.

In an article in “Gazeta” yesterday, Igor Nikolayev, the director of the FBK Institute for Strategic Analysis, says that Vladimir Putin’s actions in Crimea have clearly been sufficient for many Russians to conclude that Russia is now a great power but argues that they are not sufficient to make it one.