December 19, 2007
Time Gets It Right With Person Of The Year
After being mocked and ridiculed for its gimmicky 2006 pick, Time magazine reverted to heft with this year's choice: Russian President (for Life) Vladimir Putin.
Russia may pose the greatest foreign policy challenge to the United States in the years ahead. Problematically, Moscow seems well aware of this. We've already seen it in our dealings with Iran. Putin seems intent on challenging the hegemony of U.S./Western influence around the globe, and he has been successful in ways that we may already be feeling at home. The U.S. and Britain in particular have been somewhat chastened by their failures in Iraq, which hasn't helped their side in this growing rivalry.
Some observers may be tempted to blame this on President Bush. Bush said one maybe-inadvisable thing about Putin a long time ago, but it is unclear how any other American president would be handling Putin any differently. You may hear some of the 2008 presidential candidates pledge to adopt a tougher tone toward Putin, particularly with regard to that funny trend in which his most outspoken critics always seem to die/disappear/get locked up. But will they really know how, exactly, to slow down the deterioration of Moscow-Washington relations?
Last summer may have been just a preview of the rockiness ahead, as the White House sees a tenant change in a year-plus and Putin remains virtually as-is. Refresh your memory here, here and here.
[UPDATE 4:19] Another case in point.
Posted at 12:33 PM
Posted to:
Bush Administration, Campaigns, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Russia, U.K., WH 2008
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