[Janan Ganesh]

Scowcroft is the worst kind of do-nothing, ultra-realist cynic. He didn't even want a decisive American victory in the Cold War - he wanted to preserve some kind of Russian superpower (Soviet or not) for reasons of "stability", which is why James Baker was sent to Kiev in '89 to say "save the USSR".

GWB won't be losing any sleep over this.

[Servant of the 9]

Scowcroft is the worst kind of do-nothing, ultra-realist cynic. He didn't even want a decisive American victory in the Cold War - he wanted to preserve some kind of Russian superpower (Soviet or not) for reasons of "stability", which is why James Baker was sent to Kiev in '89 to say "save the USSR".

Exactly.
Scowcroft built his entire career, his life, around Balance of Powers diplomacy. He worked to keep NATO, SEATO and the rest of our military alliances strong and balanced against The Soviet Union, The Warsaw Pact and Red China.

When communism fell, he quite literally lost his mind.
Our winning made his expertise, his connections, his life irrelevant.

How different is Condi Rice, who promptly retooled from Soviet Expert to all 'round National Security Maven.

So9