Russian president Vladimir Putin used his annual foreign policy address to herald the end of U.S. dominance and tout Moscow's growing military might and diplomatic reach.

"Building up tension and hysteria is not our way[.] ... We are not creating problems for anyone," Mr Putin said. "I hope we can build dialogue."

Putin used the speech to announce several new foreign policy initiatives and brag about Russia's new weapons.

Financial Times:

In a wide-ranging exposition at the annual Valdai forum, Mr Putin continually returned to the idea that US hegemony was the cause of many global ills – but that its twilight offered opportunities for Russia and its friends.

"Empires often think they can make some little mistakes ... because they're so powerful," he said.  "But when the number of these mistakes keeps growing, it reaches a level they cannot sustain."

"A country can get the sense from impunity that you can do anything," he told an audience at a ski resort close to the southern city of Sochi. "This is the result of the monopoly from a unipolar world[.] ... Luckily this monopoly is disappearing.  It's almost done."

There's no doubt Russia's military played a decisive role in winning the Syrian civil war for Russia's puppet, Bashar Assad.  But how able have the Russians been in projecting their power beyond their borders?

In August, the Russian government announced that 63,000 soldiers had served in Syria since 2015.  But that's an aggregate number.  Many analysts believe that with troop rotations and temporary duty personnel, there have never been more than 15-20,000 Russian soldiers in Syria at any one time.  Most of those are support personnel.

Compare that with U.S. capabilities, and there's no contest.  The U.S. is able to transport a medium-sized city's worth of people and equipment in a matter of a couple of months.  Clearly, when it comes to military superiority, the Russians are lagging behind us badly.

Moscow has gained more success in the diplomatic arena, gaining influence in the Middle East and Asia:

The Russian president also announced Moscow would provide Egypt with a $45bn loan to pay for a Russian-built nuclear power project, and outlined plans to supply military technology to Beijing and allow Chinese agriculture companies to invest in Russia's Far East.

Putin is going to have to do more than brag if he wants to realize his dream of challenging the U.S. for global supremacy.  He wouldn't dare start a conventional war, knowing that Russia wouldn't have a chance of prevailing.  His diplomatic efforts will take years to bear fruit – if they work at all, given Russia's isolation.

In the end, this speech was just a lot of bluster from Putin that may play well at home as propaganda but won't impress anyone else.