Global I.q. Minute With Jim Falk

The oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia has plunged energy markets into a freefall, threatening U.S. energy independence as many domestic producers are faced with bankruptcy. Is this another calculated challenge against the U.S. by Vladimir Putin? The guile and aggression of the Russian president has “resurrected Russia’s status as a force to be reckoned with,” says foreign policy expert Angela Stent, author of “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest.” Stent examines how Russian history formed this mercurial leader in what Kirkus Reviews calls “a compelling historico-psychological work.” Angela Stent is a former national intelligence officer and current director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University. She is a Brookings Institution senior fellow and is an editorial board member of the Journal of Cold War Studies and the World Policy Journal. In addition to service on the National Intelligence