His personal hero is Peter the Great, Russia's reformist Czar who often resorted to brutal methods to tear Russia from its medieval moorings and launch it into the modern world three centuries ago.
Many more Russians say President Vladimir Putin's rule over Russia closely resembles the reign of Leonid Brezhnev, the communist leader who created a facade of order and stability but, by suppressing dissent and blocking fundamental reform, set the erstwhile Soviet Union on a path to collapse.
Nearly six years after the unknown Mr Putin vaulted to power at the whim of a weak and ailing president Boris Yeltsin, a ferocious debate still rages over where the former KGB agent and would-be moderniser is leading the resource-rich but politically precarious post-Soviet colossus that is Russia.
In his quest to make Russia great again, Mr Putin has had to reverse decades of neglect, and engage Asia to counter the influence of Beijing and Washington.
In Kuala Lumpur this week, he said Russia was committed to East Asia for security and trade, with Russia's rich oil and gas resources at the forefront of trade talks.
He signed a joint declaration with Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders to promote a 'comprehensive partnership'. A second document will boost co-operation until 2015.
At home, Mr Putin came to power pledging to restore strong central state power in order to curb Russia's fissiparous regionalism, tame official corruption, enact systematic market reforms and transform Russia's unaccountable bureaucracy into a western-style civil service.