I have no illusions about Putin and the Russian oligarchs but I still can see Russia as the frontier state – the bulwark against a modern Mongolian invasion, if you would. The problem is that the Bear if left untethered is as likely to maul you and eat your lunch as it is anybody’s approaching from the East.

Jump ahead 100 years. If Russian influence is not preeminent in the region then what shall replace it? The Chinese? The Islamic states to the South?