• Edward Lucas: Russians live a great deal better than they used to, because living standards have shot up and life is a lot more stable and predictable...
  
  I think where Russia does have a point is on strategic nuclear weapons in space. Russia is still the second power after the United States and this administration has been rather cavalier, to put it mildly, in its treatment of Russia on that. We tore up the ABM treaty and didn't launch proper talks on a new big treaty on nuclear weapons. It would be in America's interest to have deep cuts on both sides and rough parity, because dominance in nuclear weapons doesn't make you safer, it just makes the other guy twitchier and therefore potentially more risky story