Russia’s prime minister has always been difficult to characterize. Part reformer, part autocrat, Putin’s "iron fist in a velvet glove" approach over the past decade has helped to transform the once declining nuclear power into a promising, and at times threatening, world force. Since becoming president in 1999 and subsequently prime minister in 2008, Putin’s warmth toward the western world has been a constant ebb and flow, with differences over missile defense and unsavory world regimes often causing tension. Putin now faces unprecedented opposition and protests at home as he seeks a third term as president. Few can predict how the leader of the world’s largest country will react in the months to come.