Word: russia
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates flies around the world to war zones and allies, to China and Russia and Suriname, on a Cold War relic called the Doomsday Plane. Forged in the 1970s by Boeing, it was designed to stay aloft even in the midst of nuclear war. It's an airborne Pentagon. The plane is so heavy that it needs refueling in midair on long flights. The Air Force crew aboard told me that on occasion, the fuel nozzle from the floating tankers has smashed through the pilots' windshield like an angry space creature...
...different story when pro-Western reformer Viktor Yushchenko swept into power five years ago. His victory, millions of Ukrainians believed, would tear the former Soviet republic from neighboring Russia's orbit and set it firmly on a course toward integration with the rest of Europe. But Yushchenko and his allies failed to make good on their promises of implementing democratic reforms, ending rampant corruption and creating a better quality of life. The stirring rhetoric of the revolution soon crashed against the sobering reality of Ukrainian politics, dominated since independence in 1991 by powerful business leaders and a deeply embedded system...
Whoever leads Ukraine next, it won't be pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, who placed fifth in the nation's Jan. 17 elections. Since coming to power in 2005, Yushchenko has clashed with Russia and angered Ukrainians by failing to make good on his promises of economic reform. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her predecessor Viktor Yanukovych--both seen as more Moscow-friendly--were the top vote getters, prompting Russia to unfreeze ties with the former Soviet republic. The two will face each other in a Feb. 7 runoff...
...Measuring National Progress: 2007" GlobeScan, a research firm based in Canada and London, surveyed 1,000 people in each of 10 countries not including the U.S.. When asked whether health, social and environmental status should figure into measures of national progress as much as economic data, between 70% (Russia) and 86% (France) agreed. "It's common sense and matches their experience," says Hazel Henderson, whose firm commissioned the study. "People know there is much valuable in their lives besides what can be expressed in monetary terms...
...know when you've arrived by the number of American military aircraft lining the runway. Located 25 km north of the capital Bishkek, the U.S. air base at Manas - Kyrgyzstan's main airport - briefly hit international headlines after the Kyrgyz parliament, under pressure from Russia and China, voted to shut it down in 2009. The U.S government's offer to pay much higher rent meant that the base (now officially called a Transit Center in deference to local sensibilities) survived the threat of closure. It remains today as an embarkation point for troops bound for Afghanistan, and a reminder...