Clearly, the Russians are getting much more clever and efficient in integrating cyberwarfare techniques with their usual physical and psychological warfare.
And clearly, Putin is less interested in “resetting” relations with the West and more interested in rewriting the map on Russia’s western borders. The big question now, after Georgia and Ukraine: What happens next time, when Putin feels the need to intervene on behalf of “ethnic” Russians in a Baltic nation–one that happens to be a member of NATO?
The rise of Putin is not the beginning of a second Cold War. Moscow is a second-rate power that can’t compete with the United States. But Russia is a country with more than enough weapons in its arsenal to start troubles that will be difficult to end.
As a first step, the U.S. has to stop being an enabler of bad behavior. The White House must send a message that Moscow had its chance to be a responsible member of the international community … and it blew it.
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