[Boreas]

This is a good development, IMO. More and more, Russia becomes a natural ally of the US, really an essential ally. As we attempt to pull our fat out of the fire in the Middle East and Iran, we will need the intimate cooperation of Putin and Sergei Lavrov, Russia's brilliant foreign minister. The Russian intelligence services, the domestic FSP and foreign SVR, can be immeasurably helpful in combating terrorist networks about which they know a great deal. Remember that they alerted us to the danger posed by Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing.

If we only hadn't blown up Ukraine, playing geopolitical chicken, we'd be so much farther ahead than we are against ISIS and in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. To a large degree, I think that a great deal of the problems we're having globally are the work of Neocon leftovers from the Bush administration who are still wielding influence in the State Department and the Pentagon. Victoria Nuland comes to mind.