What does Vladimir Putin want? It is hard to read much into his flat, high-cheekboned face. The Russian despot smiles rarely, says little, and guards his privacy so ferociously that almost nothing is known about his daughters beyond their names. Still, we can perhaps make one or two inferences from what we know of his place in the world.

To start with the obvious, Putin rules the biggest country on the planet. True, it may not have a commensurately large economy — Russia’s GDP is similar in size to that of Mexico or Spain — but it nonetheless manages to be treated as a great power in the counsels of the world. Putin is an unchallenged autocrat, wielding the arbitrary powers of an 18th-century tsar. He is also reported to be the richest man alive.