Mano y mano…marxist y marxist.
That's not what I see.
On one side, I see a Eurasian strong man who is as deadly as he is smart, with a large military and intercontinental nuclear weapons. He knows how to effectively use these tools to attain his goals.
On the other side, I see a sock puppet made and controlled by 1960's radical leftist academicians with lots of theory and no practical experience in anything. While the latter also has a relatively large military and intercontinental nuclear weapons, he has no idea how to effectively use either.
It is a mistake to think Putin is driven by Marxist doctrine. He is more of a mafia boss. Obama, on the other hand, is an over-grown college sophomore who still believes the nonsense his tenured poli-sci professor told him.