It has been described as a “gas station masquerading as a country,” as a nation that has "nuclear weapons...oil wells and nothing else,” and as a mere “regional power.”

Despite the fact that Vladimir Putin's regime has pulled off the first territorial annexation in Europe since World War II, successfully intervened in Syria to save the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, and is rapidly militarizing Belarus on NATO's Eastern flank, the stubborn perception of Russia as a paper tiger persists.

And with the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden focused on China -- and hoping to park the Russia problem -- it is a perception that has serious policy implications.

The thing about Russia is that it is never as strong as it appears -- and it is never as weak as it appears. So how strong is Russia really? And how much policy attention should it be receiving?

On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Michael Kofman and Andrea Kendall-Taylor, co-authors of an important article in Foreign Affairs titled "The Myth of Russian Decline" to get some answers.