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It is a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma. perhaps there is a key, russian national interest. it's worth askinging what makes putin's russia tick? >> with us is simon marks and sergei khrushchev, the son of nikita khrushchev the leader of the soviet union. this is a picture of father and son going back to 1959. sergei is now a senior fellow at the great brown university's watson institute for international studies. professor, thank you for joining us. i guess the first question is,ing what are russia's interests in syria? >> stability. russia don't want to have all this fighting...

Regional geopolitical power broker and defines the region broadly. >> let me ask you this, fiona, on a lower level, is it possible putin is simply acting like charles de gaulle did in the '60s and late '50s? he wanted to make life difficult. that was the gaullest strategy. be difficult. is there a part that doesn't want to be friendly to obama, simply as that? >> absolutely. this plays extremely well at home. the whole story about sending out delegations of the russian doom and the russian parliament to meet with members of congress, this is just a piece of political theater. it plays well for...

It could very well splatter all over the globe if we go after assad and do him damage. mr. vladimir putin is a man of tremendous pride and will have to react somewhat negatively to us. >> i think what putin is most worried about is the splattering a little bit closer to home. it's the blowback over what we could see over the implosions in syria, but specific blowback for russia, itself. beyond some of the issues that simon has alluded to, some of the more micro-level interests in syria, itself, there are several things putin doesn't like about the possible scenario of u.s. intervention. the fi...

Civil war in syria, u.s. relations with syria have been strained due to russian support for syrian president bashar al assad. an now there is this. putin is proposing sending a delegation of russian lawmakers to lobby the u.s. congress to oppose a military strike on syria. the back and forth between the u.s. and russia has greatly increased tensions between two countries that had worked hard for years to become global partners after the dark ages of the cold war. joining me right to discuss this are simon marks, feature story news, and fiona hill with the brookings institution. simon, start wi...

Charles de gaulle did in the '60s and late '50s? he wanted to make life difficult. that was the gaullest strategy. be difficult. is there a part that doesn't want to be friendly to obama, simply as that? >> absolutely. this plays extremely well at home. the whole story about sending out delegations of the russian doom and the russian parliament to meet with members of congress, this is just a piece . it plays well for the domestic audience who enjoy -- >> you know what they have now? enough money to pay for the plane trips. thank you so much, simon marks, from the brookings institution. miss f...