WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Putin Sees His Moment. “For the past year, the debt crisis has monopolized Europe’s attention to the extent that many forgot the EU did anything besides argue about debt levels. Apparently many in Europe feel the same way, as efforts to bolster its relationships along its Eastern periphery — once a central focus of EU policy — have been all but ignored by policymakers and the media. But where Europe sees a distraction, Russia sees an opportunity.”