On February 16, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security nonresident senior fellow Ronald A. Marks was quoted in an article in Yahoo! News titled “We spoke to 7 ex-CIA and Pentagon experts. Here’s what they say Putin wants in Ukraine.” Marks explains that Putin wants to reassert Russia as a major power, but qualifies that the Kremlin can only afford so much.
[Putin] is in a lot of ways the world’s meanest teenager. He really knows how to push buttons, and he knows how far he can go.
Ronald Marks
![](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Forward-Defense.png)
Forward Defense, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, generates ideas and connects stakeholders in the defense ecosystem to promote an enduring military advantage for the United States, its allies, and partners. Our work identifies the defense strategies, capabilities, and resources the United States needs to deter and, if necessary, prevail in future conflict.