Vladimir Putin, determined to revive Russia's status as a global power, has rapidly mobilized forces to bolster the Assad regime in Syria. He orchestrated a meeting with US President Barack Obama at the September UN General Assembly meeting, to give the appearance that he is taking charge of ending the Islamic State's expansion in Iraq and Syria, explains Thomas Graham, a senior fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs based at Yale University. The move carries risks, and the United States still has great capacity to influence the region with its response.