Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out

Well, here's a name I haven't heard in a long time.  My fault.  Until recently, I had been paying only superficial attention to national and international politics.  Ahh, for the halcyon days of Go Fug Yourself (which is now apparently part of some far reaching gossip web empire) and TWoP Buffy boards.

Henry Kissinger, recently in Russia, Kissingering with "leading political personalities as well as those in business and intellectual circles," renders his opinion in The Washington Post regarding U.S. / Russian relations.

From my reading, the upshot is:

--  Putin is Medvedev's supervisor, not his puppet-master.

--  They're looking to reorganize, redistributing power; everyone says so.

--  They're trying for democracy despite everyone in Russia's humiliation of basically losing the Cold War.

--  The chaos of the 90s was so fucked up, democracy ain't going to happen tomorrow.

--  Oh, and that democracy may not be your father's democracy.  Get used to it.

--  Tant pis.  They're going to need lawyers.

--  If it fails, Putin can always run again and win.

--  Keep U.S. mouthpieces off Fox News telling the world what they think Russia should do.

--  Russia is fucking huge with borders on just about every things-could-go-terribly-wrong region of the world; that's a lot to govern, particularly without interstates.

--  U.S. should shut up.

--  Uh, the Cold War is over.  Everyone get over it and stop acting like it's a high school rivalry.

--  U.S. needs to shut up.

--  Russia and the U.S. have just about all of the nuclear brawn in the world.  Perhaps it's in everyone's best interest to work together.

--  P.S.  Working together, Iran will bow before us.

--  Apparently Ukraine being part of the EU is important; I don't understand why.

The thought of Henry Kissinger schmoozing the Russian intelligentsia for info has a certain old school symmetry to it.  Hmmm.  Yeah, I'm green to this political critical thinking madness because my first question is why would Russians discuss this earnestly with HK, particularly knowing full well that he's going to go run tell.  What's the Russian agenda?  And what's HK's agenda, 'cause I know he's got one?  Is everyone angling for some US/Russian Superstate?  Is Ukraine being part of EU a matter of geography?  Are these the questions to ask?  Is this even now just all about Iran?  Have I've seen Smiley's People too many times?  Am I the one who can't let go of the Cold War?