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From the incident at Pristina airport (1999) to the annexation of Crimea (2014), Moscow is trying to demonstrate that it will not abide by rules set by others, nor resign itself to the place of a second-tier power. Beyond an expansionist itch, this reaction displays Russia’s difficulty in defining itself and constituting a nation unto itself. In reality, the country is trying to isolate itself as a political entity; Moscow’s revisionism is aimed, first and foremost, at Russia.