Word: russian
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VLADIMIR PUTIN Russian President gets Barak and Arafat on Middle East peace party line. Carter stews quietly...
...apparent stroke; in Washington. Nelson was an old-school journalist who never missed a deadline, but he had a fanciful streak--he taught himself to play guitar on a long flight back from Latin America with Henry Kissinger (later, he picked up the balalaika). He also spoke fluent Russian and used it to interview Soviet dignitaries during the cold war--and to nettle the English-only reporters...
...Viewed in the big picture, Putin's decision is hardly surprising - weapons remain the most viable export of the somnambulant Russian economy, and while the rampant corruption of the Yeltsin years has slowed Western aid and investment to a trickle, Tehran's weapons order alone is equivalent to more than 10 percent of Russia's annual budget. Add on recent weapons orders worth $3 billion from India and $1 billion from China, and it becomes clear that there's considerable material incentive for Moscow to ignore Washington's objections. Indeed, a case can be made that even Russia's efforts...
...West. The seditious grumbling over NATO's expansion onto Russia's eastern European doorstep reached a crescendo during last year's Kosovo campaign. President Putin built his election campaign around the military's brutal assault on Chechnya - a hapless attempt to restore its lost honor - and vowed to restore Russian power. Despite such humiliations as the Kursk submarine disaster, Putin has set about modernizing his armed forces by cutting their size while increasing their budget. At the same time, he's adopted an overtly competitive geopolitical stance toward the U.S., openly seeking alliances of convenience with China and India...
...Even if they have their own difficulties with Washington, of course, China and India may also have many reasons to keep Russia at arm's length. And dabbling in Iran and Iraq also has the potential to blow up in the face of a Russian leader whose Chechen enemies have a far greater emotional claim on the good offices of Islamic countries. Still, Moscow has unleashed a flurry of moves on the geopolitical chessboard. And whoever ends up calling the shots in the White House will have his work cut out for him. Washington's geopolitical free ride...