Poking a Bear with a Stick

If the war in Georgia was not in and of itself a Russian provocation of the Bush administration, what should we make of Russia's recent landing of two strategic bombers in Venezuela? (Of course, fiery and virulently anti-American Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is likely ecstatic about this unprecedented deployment.)  We can safely say that these unusual aerial "trainings" were meant to poke the American bear with a stick after Russia's incursion into Georgia. The Washington Post reports that these maneuvers are the first time Russian strategic bombers have landed in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. We shouldn't fool ourselves: the U.S. is certainly not innocent in this.  We dispatched warships to deliver aid to the Georgians; have been negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic to build missile defense bases on Russia's doorstep (Russia already warned these two countries that if they follow-through, they would risk being targeted by Russian missiles); and - just earlier this week - rejected further cooperation on the U.S.-Russia Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation ("123 Agreement").  In an increasingly tense relationship with Russia, this game of cat-and-mouse reminds me of Cold War posturing - all of which got us nowhere, fast. Can this post-Cold War bravado lead to anything positive? I fear not.  Secretary of State Condi Rice, who is a Russia expert and speaks Russian fluently, needs to step up to the diplomatic plate and begin engaging the Russians directly; letting French president Sarkozy take the lead isn't going to cut it.Things could get better, but they shouldn't get any worse.