Quote of the Day

I recommend reading these short opinion pieces by leading Russian experts. They include two I have discussed in the past, the impressive Stephen Kotkin and the Economist's Ed Lucas. This quote sums up some thoughts I've been having today.

"Russia's history is not only about authoritarianism and imperialism. It is also the story of astonishingly brave men and women who struggled for freedom, like the eight protesters who went to Red Square in August 1968 to denounce the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Like countless others in past decades, their slogan was: "For your freedom and ours."

"The best way that the outside world can help Russia now is by example. The West has squandered the moral authority it had at the end of the cold war. Dick Cheney's America and Silvio Berlusconi's Italy don't look much different from Putin's Russia, at least when viewed from Moscow. We have to practice what we preach before we can expect anyone else to believe it."

- Ed Lucas, Economist Central Europe Correspondent and author the 'New Cold War'