Paul Goble’s blog windows-on-eurasia provides a commentary on prominent Russian commentator Andrei Ilarionov’s views on current Western attitudes toward the Kremlin. According to him, the West has decided to stand firm against Russian aggression which has made the latter fear a confrontation it will lose. He cites close Putin ally and head of presidential administration, Sergei Ivanov, who has compared  the relative strength of the West vs Russia as “a behemoth and a house cat,” to indicate that the Kremlin is fully aware of its weakness and unlikely to risk more aggression.