If there is anything we have learned about President Putin over the last 22 years or so, it is that he has tried to weaken and undermine the West.
He seems to have succeeded in unifying most of the international community in condemning Russia's aggression toward its neighbor.
NATO is united more so than at any point since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with a renewed sense of purpose and mission.
The European Union supports ending their economic dependence on Russia and is nearly doubling their defense spend, as well as Hungary, which supports a sanctions regime.
Russia behaves like a malign actor on the global stage with its interference in democratic processes such as the U.S. 2016 election or support for far-right political groups in Europe. The nerve agent attack on U.K. soil in the summer of 2018? was widely seen as responsible for it. Russia denied involvement in both attacks despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine should come as no surprise since it has a history of bad behavior and attempts to influence other former Soviet neighbors.
Despite imposing sanctions on Russia, the West was accused of not being tough enough with analysts saying that Putin learned from the experience of annexing part of a state and that he could get away with it.
The invasion of the north, south and east of Ukraine by Russia has made the West more united than it has been in a long time. NATO, the EU, the U.K., and other developed nations are all working together to defeat Russia.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia caught many analysts by surprise, as they were expecting a smaller-scale incursion into eastern Ukraine.
Since the invasion, there has been a flurry of high-profile and urgent meetings, visits and video calls between the leaders of NATO countries with previous disagreements between members of the alliance.
A demonstrator holds a United Against Putin sign outside the White House in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2022, during a rally in support of Ukraine.Many brands have pulled out of Russia due to the war in Ukraine and multiple public protests against Putin, turning the country into a pariah on the global stage.
Berenberg Bank's Chief Economist Holger Schmieding said that the politics of Europe and beyond could be affected by Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia was starting to resemble a Soviet style petro-economy with an oversized military sector and eventually unaffordable imperial ambitions, and seemed bound to fall more and more behind the advanced world before the war.
The economic demise of Putin's Russia will likely be worse than that of the Soviet Union because of the costs of war, increasing domestic oppression and harsh Western sanctions.
While Putin is looking increasingly isolated, Western democracies are trying not to be perceived to intervene military in the conflict with Russia, a move that could easily spark a wider and more destructive global conflict.
In his State of the Union address last week, President Joe Biden commented on the West's unity in the crisis, saying "We see the unity among leaders of nations and a more unified Europe, a more unified West."
Russia's invasion has posed a moral, military and political dilemma for the EU and NATO.
Ukraine is not a member of either bloc but its position on the edge of Europe, which is a buffer state between NATO members and Russia, puts it in an important strategic position. Ukraine's pro-Western and pro-democracy government and populace have provoked widespread sympathy for the country and its people. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the war but many are still fighting.
The case for joining the military alliance has been boosted by the invasion of Russia, which was largely predicated on the demand that Ukraine is never allowed to join NATO.
NATO deployment in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states has already been strengthened with more troops and weaponry.
The director of the CIA said that China did not anticipate the difficulty that the Russians would run into.
China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion, but analysts believe that the Chinese President did not believe that Putin would launch a full-scale attack.
Although China has offered to broker peace talks, and held a call with France and Germany's leaders on Tuesday, it still has to tread a fine line with the Kremlin.
The director of the CIA said on Tuesday that Putin has made fundamental errors in going into Ukraine, believing it to be weak and underestimating the resistance Russian forces would face there.
Burns said that Putin believed he had modernized his military to the extent that they were easily capable of a quick decisive victory.
Burns told Congress that he had been proved wrong on every count.
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