A signal as to where Putin is coming from

We've always known him to be a wily sort, a highly disciplined, hard-headed ex-KGB agent with a strong patriotic bent and an autocratic governing style.  Lately, he's been exhibiting expansionist behavior as well.

Still, much about him remains an enigma.  Just what motivates him ultimately?

Perhaps Russia's new culture policy (What a concept; What kind of populace willingly accepts a government-imposed "culture policy?")  affords us some indication:

Russians not only have their own "cultural code," he said, they also have a unique moral outlook -- unlike Westerners, Russians are selfless and prone to self-sacrifice.

"These are the deep roots of our patriotism," Putin said.

Tapping into perceived "traditional cultural values" of Russian civilisation, the culture ministry is drawing up a government strategy that observers say has all the trappings of a new state ideology, echoing Soviet legacy.

The authors preparing the document, who are kept secret, believe that such a policy must be based on the thesis that "Russia is not Europe" and generously quote from Putin's speeches.

An early version of the document has been leaked to the press and is currently being examined by a Kremlin working group chaired by one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, chief of staff Sergei Ivanov, a former KGB agent recently blacklisted by the United States.The policy states Russia is at a historical crossroads and must make a choice between cultural extinction or the preservation of its unique "moral and spiritual foundations," which can only be done with a "state culture policy."

"Russia is an ancient, independent, distinctive civilisation," culture minister Vladimir Medinsky said at a press conference Wednesday.

It seems that Putin and those in top echelons of influence have some idea that the West is trying to dilute the essence of Russia's identity.  But then, it looks like an assumption that each of the world's cultures are trying to subsume one another is an intrinsic part of the Russian worldview, and has found its ultimate embodiment in the country's current leader.