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POPSPutin Prepares The Russian Empire to Strike Back Elements of Putin's strategy to make Russia great again are slowly coming into focus. Much of the plan is defined by Russia's opposition to the US, the traditional foe. Thus the Kremlin announced last week that it would renounce the strategic arms reduction treaty (known as New Start) agreed with Washington two years ago if the US did not abandon its European missile defence plans. This announcement, coupled with the unveiling of a new Russian missile base in Kaliningrad on Nato's doorstep, has striking implications. New Start was the centrepiece of Barack Obama's 2009 "reset" of bilateral relations. The reset is viewed by the White House as a major foreign achievement (and 2012 re-election asset) for a president who has but few to his name.