Russia craves acceptability beyond its neighbourhood

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on September 30, 2022. [AP photo]

Russia and Kenya are two countries that are groping for space in the world arena, led by strong-willed men, Vladimir Putin in Russia and William Ruto in Kenya. Putin, still smarting over the collapse of the Soviet Union and Mikhael Gorbachev's apparent loss of strategic foresight, wants Russia to regain the greatness it lost in the early 1990s.

In the process, Russia repeatedly collides with Western powers, led by the United States and Britain, whose geopolitical preoccupation is containing Russia.