Too often, we are told that Russia plays a weak hand well. Russia ranks behind the US and China by traditional measures of power like GDP. Yet 25 years removed from its mid-1990s nadir, Russia has become a supremely disruptive force in world politics. How has Russia's resurrection happened and why are observers surprised? Kathryn E. Stoner assesses the revival of Russia and argues that we should look beyond traditional means of power to assess its real strength in international politics.