What does Putin want

Today's question: Should the world prepare for an era of expanding Russia hegemony? How Rosetta Stone should the U.S. and its allies respond? All week, Andrew Meier and Michael C. Moynihan discuss post-Cold War Russia.Putin's push for Western acceptance Also What Putin wants Discuss the first installment of this week's Dust-Up.ments will close after one week. Andropov has not be emphasized enough-- the KGB and it's successors always felt that he died before the USSR could fully implement the KGB's vision of reform. Little surprise then that Putin has essentially steered Russia back toward that concept of state control and organization. capital L 8:57 PM PDT, Aug 30, 2008 Hon you so don't get the Russians. LB 1:29 PM PDT, Aug 29, 2008 Mr. Moynihan wrote: "... that hideous Sting song about Russians "loving their children too."Why "hideous"? The very idea Russians are people makes Mr. Moynihan feel insulted? You told us about yourself so much with just one word, sir! Elena 5:17 AM PDT, Aug 28, 2008 more ments Point: Andrew MeierAren't 21st century geopolitics amazing? Here we are, Michael, in the week that the Democrats will nominate an African American for president -- and we're debating Russia? Even more bizarrely, what's put U.S.-Russian relations back on center stage is a far-off province that, before this month, few Americans other than linguists who study endangered languages and military analysts who track low-intensity conflicts had ever heard of. South Ossetia is so small that you really shouldn't call it a "province." It's little more Rosetta Stone Software than a small town of Soviet cinder block, now nearly leveled, and a patch of sheepherders' villages.And yet the fight there has stolen the headlines, moved Moscow and Washington into their coldest peace since Ronald Reagan's "evil empire" taunt and tipped the balance for Joe Biden -- that brash, young agent of "change."How did we get here? If we can, Michael, figure that one out by Friday, we may begin to answer the second part of today's topic: What should the U.S. do about it?Is Russia really intent on extending its reach beyond its borders and restoring the breadth and might of the Soviet Union? Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin's Russia is resurgent, no doubt about it. But it's not just the triumph in Georgia that's pumped up Russian pride.While the West was averting its eyes, Russia has e back from the lowest depths. A decade ago -- on Aug. 17, 1998, otherwise known as "Black Monday" -- the Russian state devalued its currency, defaulted on its debt and fell into disgrace. Forget about a middle class; the barely sprouting business class -- that new generation of bankers, lawyers, salon-owners and aircraft makers -- sank overnight into bankruptcy. Russians rushed to stores with bags full of near-worthless rubles.What happened in the wake of the crash? First of all, Russia weaned itself off imports, which disappeared almost immediately. Then Rosetta Stone French came the great turn of luck, the skyrocketing price of crude, followed by America's war in Iraq. Now of course, the former KGB lieutenant colonel can claim little credit for either. But the economic revival will not only be Putin's legacy; it stands to go down as one of the greatest ebacks in history.