Say what you will about Putin, and a lot can be said, Russia is much stronger than it has any right to be.

See their position on the world stage be it Crimea, Syria, other-than-super-leftists rising in Europe, Iran and even in Turkey.

After the USSR collapsed many states degraded into lost lands with little to no significance. Yet Russia remains a major player, not toyed around by external forces but controlled by an internal, stable regime- no matter how heinous.

I don't think a series of succession wars going from insanely corrupt "democracies" to foreign influenced civil wars or sellout governments compares to what he has brought to the table.