A year after Russia stepped into the Syrian quagmire on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow has challenged the US and NATO in virtually every arena possible. The Russians: - probably bombed a UN humanitarian aid convoy bringing relief, derailing joint US / Russian peace talks; - continue to strike civilian targets with chemical weapons; - sent nuclear-capable missiles to Kaliningrad, Russia’s European enclave; - suspended an agreement with the US to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium because of what they viewed as ‘unfriendly’ acts by the US; - sent missile defence batteries to Syria, and threatened to shoot down US planes flying in Syria without warning; - participated in military drills with China in the South China Sea (where China has illegally annexed and militarised artificial islands); - probably hacked the Democratic National Committee and other US government agencies and leaked information to the public to de-legitimise the USA's upcoming election and destabilise the country at large.