The Issue
After the downfall of Communism, the world hoped that Russia would join the civilized community of nations, to become a country where political freedom and individual rights were respected in the same manner, and to the same extent, as in the United States of America or the United Kingdom.
But this has not happened. The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in Chechnya, the invasion of Georgia, the illegitimate interference with Kasparov's ability to contest Russian elections - all these things point to the world still suffering under the menace of a nation hostile to freedom being in possession of extensive nuclear armaments. And, of course, there is also China in addition, posing a similar menace, especially since its second-strike capability has grown in recent years.
The breakthrough that years of vigilance had yielded when Communism collapsed should have been seized and solidified at the time - instead, world peace has slipped through our fingers and again we live in a world not firmly under the control of its free and civilized nations.