At the time of writing there hasn't been time for much reaction to Putin's criticism of the US.  He claimed the US had overstepped its borders using "almost uncontained" force around the world.  I expect there will be a backlash, including reciprocal criticism, but I see this move, if it signals a more assertive approach by Russia, as possibly very good news.  Since the demise of the Soviet Union there has only been one superpower, and the world has suffered from a lack of balance as the UN has been unable to punch its weight with the US.

Balance is important within an individual personality.  Jung identified various types of problems that can occur in someone whose dominant function is too highly differentiated - the over-dominance of one function creates a one-sided and usually dysfunctional individual.

The same principle applies to the World's political personality, where there is also a need for balance.  Having an effective opposition is an important principle in any democratic country, as can be seen in both the US and UK political systems: republicans vs democrats, labour vs conservative/liberal democrat.  Balance is needed in the interactions between sovereign nations, as one-sidedness in world politics may have a significant detrimental impact on the World's collective 'psychological' and political health.

As the US has become more and more dominant in world events, without any effective 'opposition', the lack of balance of world power may have contributed to the rise of terrorism (although it is not a new phenomenon).  If Jung's principles of balance, self-regulation and compensation operate at a collective as well as personal level then the vacuum of counter-balance to the US, created by the collapse of the Soviet Union, would inevitably have drawn others such as Al Qaeda to provide that opposition through more unconscious forces.

If Russia is now able and willing to play a more assertive role, and provide a more effective opposition to the US' world dominance, then perhaps a more productive balance will be restored and there will no longer be an unconscious psychological imperative for the forces of terrorism.  I'm not welcoming a return to proxy wars like Vietnam, or the Cuban crisis, but rather seeing the benefits, as Maximus Decimus Meridius put it, of being able to look the enemy in the eye. 

Someone once said (Jung? Ghandi?) that peace can only be achieved when the word victory loses its meaning.  As a civilisation we are a long way from that point, but restoring balance in world power would be an important step in that direction.