great post! i just saw him speak last week, and he was very insightful, especially w/ regard to Russia, the Middle East, and the current (mis)use of U.S. power in the world. i'd really like to pick up his latest book.

no prob. yea my prof and i were discussing this the other day...Putin receives so much negative press from the US and England, and if US continues with its current stance, we're sure to end up with a new cold war situation...mark my word ;)also, yea Putin is a hardliner, but he's really been improving the democratic process in Russia that Yeltsin started.

after reading "Putin's Russia" by Anna Politkovskaya, and in light of her assassination along with others critical of Putin, i feel like the U.S. and the international community should not accomodate his abuses of power.

i see what you mean about another Cold War, but if it were to take the form of all democratic nations pressuring a few tyrants like Putin, regardless of how useful they are to U.S. interests, i would support this.

i hope this doesn't make me seem like some kind of war-loving neoconservative; i think they tend to use the word "tyrant" to describe only those who are not in line with their interests.

i agree with you on that point. I wish Putin didn't carry out Stalinistic policies and "retrict" free press...it makes it that much harder to appreciate the positive steps that he has taken in other arenas of Russian government.

good point, he did stablize the country after an incredibly difficult transition. i'll have to learn more about his other accomplishments. Russia's history and current situation is so fascinating to me. thanks for bringing these things to my attention!

no prob...i've always been really interested in Russian politics, post Gorbachev. My task force topic was US-Russia relations, and i got a really glimpse into the Putin policies a couple years ago.