Since the end of the Cold War, political entities have been readjusting, seeking a new balance. We have been witnessing a global power realignment with the loss of the Soviet Union's heavy weight. Many newly-independent nations that were once part of or subject to that totalitarian state have gravitated towards the West, or specifically towards the US. Some nations, aligned with America mostly through fear of Soviet domination, have sought new alliances and new power for themselves. While this is all perfectly normal and natural (as normal as geopolitics can be), whenever a Cold War era ally disagrees with America, Liberals seek to blame America for not appeasing them enough. That's not only short-sighted and unreasonable, but injurious to the power and sovereignty of the United States. Do Liberals really think that the USA -- the greatest force for good and guarantor of human rights and liberty in the world -- should surrender its place as first among equals? Those who think so aren't looking at the global picture, and ignoring the future for ideology's sake. We still have enemies, unfortunately... and they show no signs of peacefully laying down their arms. Quite the opposite.

It was hoped that Russia -- the core of what was once the Soviet Union -- would continue the policies of openness and freedom that splintered the USSR. Economic reform is probably the surest path to freedom -- with higher surplus cash comes the desire to spend it as the individual wishes. Democracy and capitalism often go hand in hand. Unfortunately, Russia seems to be sliding back into its totalitarian ways. President Vladimir Putin has restricted personal liberties as well as economic freedoms. Freedom House, a non-governmental organisation, has placed Russia into the "not free" category for the first time since 1991:

Freedom House noted increased Kremlin control over national television and other media, limitations on local government, and parliamentary and presidential elections it said were neither free nor fair. "Russia's step backward into the 'Not Free' category is the culmination of a growing trend under President Vladimir Putin to concentrate political authority, harass and intimidate the media, and politicize the country's law-enforcement system," executive director Jennifer Windsor said in a statement. "These moves mark a dangerous and disturbing drift toward authoritarianism in Russia, made more worrisome by President Putin's recent heavy-handed meddling in political developments in neighboring countries, such as Ukraine."

Putin's government has increased the power of the FSB (Federal Security Service) to include monitoring communications and gathering intelligence. "An initial analysis of this would lead you to believe that the FSB has virtually taken on the form of what used to be the KGB," Russian MP Boris Nadezhdin stated in 2003. All Russian television stations are now under Federal control. Putin's government installed the new board of directors of the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion (Russia's most respected opinion pollster). The Russian parliament recently voted to allow news organisations that provide "biased" campaign coverage to be shut down. Who decides what's biased? The government, of course. Sergei V. Bolshakov explained, "It doesn't restrict freedom of speech. It restricts freedom of dissemination of information, but only during the election campaign." Bolshakov is a member of Russia's Central Electoral Commission.

As former Soviet satellite nations break away from its control through free elections, Russia has been seeking a way to regain that lost power. Russia has increasingly turned to China, a Communist nation having much in common with the former Soviet Union. Since the US and EU banned weapons sales to China in 1989 after the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, Russia has become China's top arms supplier. (The EU ban holds despite intense French pressure to drop it.) The "Good Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation" Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed in 2001 was the beginning of a new global alliance in opposition to the West. By 2003, Chinese-Russian cooperation had expanded to include energy, space engineering, arms supplies, and regional security. "Relations with China constitute the most important factor in Russian foreign policy strategy today," said Gennady Chuffrin, deputy director of Moscow's Institute for World Economy and International Relations. "In some ways, our relations with China are even more important than those with the US."

Attempts to subvert the 2004 election in Ukraine (including poisoning popular pro-Western candidate Viktor Yushchenko with dioxin) didn't work; election fraud committed by the pro-Russian party was so blatant that even the UN couldn't finesse it. Instead of struggling to hold the fraying fabric of the Soviet Union together, Putin appears to be strengthening his alliance with China. The two nations finally moved to settle their last remaining border disputes in October 2004. In 2005, Russia and China will hold joint military exercises. As Russia and China snuggle closer, the Chinese government is on the verge of issuing an ultimatum to the breakaway province of Taiwan. This will also likely occur in 2005, when China proposes a reunification law the government has been working on. The law will mandate that Taiwan consider itself part of and under the control of the Chinese government, and call for military intervention if Taiwan moves to declare independence. (Taiwan has been effectively independent since 1949.)

North Korea, one of the worst threats to world peace, has also been solidifying relations with China. Representatives of the two nations, already allies, took place in 2003. "The friendly relations between the two armies are developing on good terms," said China's Colonel General Xu Caihou. With Russian and North Korean military backing, China could find itself in a strong position to carry out its threat. The US would almost be forced to respond to such a move, as a strong military alliance between Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang would threaten Japan, our strongest ally in the Far East.

The only way to avoid a military showdown is to wean the increasingly-desperate Russia away from China with diplomacy. No, that definitely doesn't mean "peace at any price." It's no accident that President Bush has appointed Condoleezza Rice to be his new Secretary of State -- her area of expertise just happens to be Russia. Rice is known as an expert on the Soviet Union and arms control; she even spent two years as director and then senior director of Soviet and East European Affairs at the NSC. The next four years will see her -- and America -- in the center of a diplomatic storm, as we try to prevent the emergence of a threat to world peace and democracy every bit the equal of the Soviet Union, perhaps even less restrained in its use of military force.