More in the "weakened Russia turns to Europe for help" vein

Where are all my "resurgent Russia" guys now?

The severe blow dealt to Russia by the West's financial crisis is prompting a recalibration of Russia's foreign policy. Among the ideas now surfacing in Moscow: a much closer relationship between Russia and the European Union.

After years of rapid economic growth, Russia was hit hard by the crisis. Last year, its economy shrank by 7.9%. That put its economic performance in 206th place out of 213 countries, according to the Central Intelligence Agency.

"What became clear from the financial crisis is that Russia is not a sustainable BRIC," said Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations . . .

I mean, weren't we supposed to wage another Cold War with Russia because of Georgia?  

Gotta wonder how George Friedman is swallowing all this.

The enthusiastic "Russia is Back" slogans being bandied about two or three years ago have been replaced by growing fears of further decline.

Duh!

This is why the freak-out artists are always good entertainment but bad guides for action: they don't see the feedback loops that increasingly define globalization's connectedness.  They still see the world in 20th (or even 19th) century terms, especially in the primacy of "pow-waaah!" as my friend Hank Gaffney likes to say.  That romantic view of global affairs is quaint all right, but useless.