Bush Walks, Putin Shrugs.(George W. Bush)(Brief Article)

President George W. Bush announced last week that the United States would withdraw from the anti-ballistic missile treaty in six months, but he emerged unscathed politically. With the war on terror, "Who's going to complain?" said a former Clinton official. Even former general Vladimir Belous, a veteran of the Soviet Union's elite nuclear strike forces and long-time opponent of U.S. missile defense plans, seemed unfazed. "This is the best thing that could have happened," he said. Although he wasn't happy that Washington had withdrawn from the treaty, Belous believes that Russia will now win political points for seeming like a peacemaker.

Why the striking sense of calm in Russia? Weakness, for one. Moscow could have done nothing to prevent Washington from pulling out--its threats thus far of installing multiple warheads on existing missiles have failed to persuade the United States to be more cooperative. More important, the recent White House proposals for sharp cuts in offensive arms could save the Kremlin desperately needed cash, which it could use to gear up for more proximate threats--the militant Islamic rebellion in Chechnya, for instance. In return for Moscow's mild-mannered response on missile defense, Washington might lead a campaign to provide Russia with debt relief, and could also aid its bid to join the World Trade Organization or invite wider Russian participation in NATO decision making."Putin is after something bigger ...