[Carry_Okie]

I don't think that was Kasparov's point. He was indicating that we might have a better chance of assuring that better options remain in play by how we choose to react to Russia's machinations. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Dog Gone]

Well, he's very vague about what we're doing wrong, except that we're misunderstanding the situation in Russia. I'm not even sure that assertion is correct.

Most well-read people understand that Russia is hardly a model of democracy, that the legal system is unreliable, and that the country is run by a coalition of politicians and a criminal oligarchy. Nor is anyone unaware that Russia was quite unhelpful at the UN before the war.

I think Garry's piece is quite good in describing what's wrong with Russia and why we should be very cautious in our dealings with them. It's just that it seems to me that we are being cautious, diplomatic happy-faces nothwithstanding.