This piece is a heavyweight compendium of various expert opinions of several aspects of Russia today and in the years to come. One of them, Stephen Kotkin, correctly in my view says that the shock of so many Americans, at the Russian invasion of Georgia last month, arose from their profound self-delusion about the nature of power in the world today. Nina L. Kruscheva predicts that Vladimir Putin will try to retake Tallinn (Estonia), Sevastopol (Ukraine) and Tbilisi. I think this is ... More »

Extremely interesting piece(s) from a variety of reporters on their thoughts of how Russia will be faring in 10 years. Well worth a read for the differences and similarities, subtle and otherwise.

I found it appalling that every single so-called expert in this article assumes that Russia invaded Georgia as an act of aggression. Not one even hinted at what Georgia did to provoke the invasion. And then there's the ABM system the US wants to put into Poland, spoken about as though it were a useful expense of money. I found no "fair and balanced" in any of these opinions.