Posted on 02/21/2005 5:41:14 PM PST by Johannesson
As President Bush embarks on his fence mending trip to Europe as it has been dubbed, he has some unprecedented challenges before him. Much has been said about convincing our European allies to view international matters in a more conciliatory light, yet the greatest difficulty lies not in France or Germany. The real dilemma is how to handle Russia and Vladimir Putin.
After reluctantly embracing democracy in the early 1990's, Russia has begun a steady retraction of democratic principles and is slowly heading towards an autocracy. With the virtual elimination of a free press in Russia and the apparent erosion of freely elected local governors, a future amendment of the Russian constitution to allow Putin a third term seems less and less unlikely. Seemingly determined to regain the influence enjoyed under the Soviet era, Moscow is belligerently meddling in affairs in both Ukraine and Georgia. President Bush today issued a firm indication of what he will address while meeting with Putin on Thursday: "We must always remind Russia that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power and the rule of law. The United States should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia."
Aside from the growing totalitarian aspirations in Moscow, Russia is presenting a greater problem by offering advanced military
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