I first realized that when it was obvious that he would be elected and Putin put "a few rounds over his bow" by attacking Georgia just to establish psychological dominance. I remember my training where there are certain people who project a "victim image" and just invite attack through their body language, brain waves, and actions. One analogy was that "they go through life wearing a t-shirt that has 'kick me' written on it" First Iran is emboldened, then North Korea, then Venezuela, and today Russia scrambles jets over Canada.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canad.../14874221.html