A brief history of Vladimir Putin's unexpected rise to power
In late September, Russia intervened militarily in Syria in a major escalation of the 54-month war, turning an already thorny situation into something significantly more complex.
Although why Russia got involved and what its ultimate game-plan is are questions that are still up to debate, one thing is certain: Russian president Vladimir Putin got the world's attention.
As Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer noted earlier, "Putin's was the most significant geopolitical victory scored against the United States since the end of the Cold War."
However, the Russian president wasn't always such a big player on the world stage. In fact, he spent most of the earlier years of his presidency focused on domestic affairs.
As such, Business Insider put together a short timeline showing how a relative "nobody" climbed up the ranks to become the "World's Most Powerful Person."
Check it out below.
