Russia has always seen itself as under siege from the west. In 1853 Tsar Nicolas I noted that 'We can expect nothing from the West but blind hatred and malice'. He was reacting to what he saw as the double standards of the west, that anything Russia did in terms of militarily defending itself was seen as 'disturbing the balance of power'. One hundred years later, in 1952, Vladimir Putin was born and now as the President of Russia expresses this same opinion by his actions, by his own written history of Russia and by his speeches. This course examines Putin’s history, his childhood, his behaviour as a young adult and then his time leading up to becoming the President in 1999. It then covers his behaviour in the time leading up to the Ukraine war and his refusal to cease his invasion of territory which was no longer a part of Russia. In this way this course is a profile of how Putin thinks about his role as the President of Russia, his impact on his people, the deterioration in his relationship with the west and his authoritarian control of Russia. His war has resulted in the death of an estimated million soldiers. How will his country recover even if he were to win the war? Will he ever come to a cessation of this war and if so what would influence him to do this?”