Russia's paranoia is our best defense these days (tip to Instapundit):
Moscow is certain that if continued crushing of secular authoritarian regimes is allowed because America and the West support “democracy,” it will lead to such destabilization that will overwhelm all, including Russia. It’s therefore necessary for Russia to resist, especially as the West and the United States themselves experience increasing doubts.
This way of looking at us is surely good for Russians' egos, too. It's all about them. It would be too crushing to believe that not only aren't we orchestrating a vast plan to collapse Russia, we honestly don't even think about them very much since 1991:
The Russians can't accept that we just don't think about them much any more the way we used to when Soviets roamed the planet. We've got bigger issues to face on a daily basis, and only when the Russians act like this do we dust off the phone number for the 3rd under-secretary of defense who still speaks Russian to give him a task to do.
I keep mentioning that when we discuss what an enemy might rationally do, we must not make the mistake of thinking what is rational for us is also rational for them. And Russians are sort of Europeans, from our general heritage. How much worse is it to try to think like North Koreans, Iranians, or Chinese?
