Misreading Russia in Syria  Author's Note: Some of the ideas in
this short essay were born from a conversation I had with Mr.
Edward Burke of the Center for European Reform, to whom I owe
due thanks.  Hilary Clinton’s June 12 accusation against Russia
put forward nothing new. And what is worse, it could not have
come at a worse time. Only three days earlier, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the “urgent” need for an
international conference to prevent Syria’s further slide into
civil war, to force all parties “to sit down at the negotiating
table after first halting the violence.” This plan -- markedly
similar to Kofi Annan’s proposal -- belies a great sacrifice by
the Russian leadership, but one on which the Secretary failed to
capitalize.  Russia’s foreign policy is rooted in a Cold War
psychology. Lavrov and his Foreign Ministry view international
politics as a geopolitical chess game. It would be no stretch to
say that Lavrov has acted as Russia’s “new Kissinger,” seeking
to maintain Russia