Last Sunday in Munich Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a scolding speech directed squarely at the United States. Speaking at a German security conference attended by 40 foreign ministers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Putin said, the United States had created a world where "no one feels safe".  "People are always teaching us democracy, but the people who teach us democracy don't want to learn it themselves," Putin said, referring to the current nature of international politics.

He also took pot shots at NATO, questioning its eastward expansion - and warning against any more of it. Putin wasn't any happier about possible U.S. missile defenses in the former Soviet bloc states of Poland and the Czech Republic, either.

Putin said the U.S.  has attempted to create a "unipolar" world-a world with "one center of authority, one center of force, one center of decision-making".

Putin is riding a wave of popularity in Russia where his approval rating is over 70%. His comments may be as much for domestic consumption as anything. Russia does not like being taken for granted and is eager to again assume a role as a leader in the world. Its vast energy supplies are a key means by which it can take a leadership role. Immediately after the Munich meeting Putin left for a tour of the Middle East to discuss energy relations and trade with Saudi Arabia and others.

Russia has rebounded from the days when the nations was essentially bankrupt when Putin took over in 1998. Persona incomes are up, inflation is down and currency reserves are strong. Again, a lot of this is due to energy, the lingua franca of world finance today.

A Moment of Opportunity

Some argue the United States is no longer the "unipolar" power Putin describes. America is weakened by its adventure in Iraq. Its allies are moving away from support for the war and domestically  President Bush is getting strong opposition for his last surge of troop strength in the fractured country. The Iranian nuclear crisis mounts with each day. And Iran is pushing its divisive Shiite influence deeper into Iraq. 

These events are creating a rapidly changing world. America may wake up to see a new world with a different playing field-and a world it can no longer shape to its own ends.

What Russia, and other powers, do with this moment is critical to the global order.

I'll have more to say on this in my next post. Meantime, take a look at what  Cecil Maranville wrote on Russia in World News and Prophecy.