Democracy is the new Communism?

Russia, as one might expect, is less than excited about pro-America and pro-EU actions in its near abroad - from the Orange Revolution to the Baltic states joining the EU. But this is not news. What's news is that Keir A. Leiber's Foreign Affairs article states that Russians wouldn't respond to a nuclear first strike; that the sun is setting on the era of mutual assured destruction (MAD). This was cause for some alarm in Russia.

This, combined with the "reign in un-democratic Putin" drumbeat heard from the U.S. Congress, combined with the "democracy is the spreading and unstoppable shining path" drumbeat heard from the administration, makes for what the Washington Post terms the "heat of Cold War."

In the WashPost's quotes from a Russian leader below, note: 1.) The term "messianism," 2.) The comparison between Condi and Kruschev, and 3.) Global democracy as the new global Communism:

"We are gradually being pushed to the northeast of the Eurasian continent away from the seas . . . to the place where the depths of freezing is more than two meters," said Natalia Narochnitskaya, vice chairman of the international affairs committee in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, and a member of the nationalist Rodina Party. ...

"The messianism of American foreign policy is a remarkable thing," she said. When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks, Narochnitskaya said, "it seems like Khrushchev reporting to the party congress: 'The whole world is marching triumphantly toward democracy but some rogue states prefer to stay aside from that road, etc. etc.' "

Back to nuclear war, though, isn't it a good thing that we're beyond MAD? Is the concept of global nuclear war not scary as hell?

Answer: Of course MAD is scary, but the only thing more scary - from the Russian perspective - is RAD.