In the 'What You Give is What You Get' Department
Vladimir the Great?
Putin's Inspiration Is Much Older Than the Cold War
By Jay Winik
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B07
Having just grabbed a piece of the Arctic the size of Western Europe, the Russian military has announced ambitious plans to establish a permanent presence in the Mediterranean for the first time since the end of the Cold War. The guiding hand behind this Russian resurgence is undeniably Russia's enigmatic president, Vladimir Putin.
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Actually, the guiding hand behind the Russian moves are not so much those of Vladimir the Great, as they are of George the Lesser, a current American president.
A bumbling, unsure, yet heavy-handed foreign policy--run more from the Pentagon than the State Department. Unsurprisingly, the response has been from Russia's military.
Putin is a very direct man and does not suffer foolishness as benignly as our Brit friends.
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