Stephan:   George Soros, as I know from direct personal knowledge, was the only uber rich American who understood the opportunity presented by the fall of the Soviet Union. He poured millions of dollars into Russia in the hopes that a democracy could be assisted to emerge. Soros is a true geopolitical thinker -- a remarkably rare skill possessed by very few politicians -- and he understood what was at stake. Unfortunately the American Congress and the Presidency could not rise to the challenge, could not abandon, indeed still has not abandoned Cold War thinking, and so created the conditions that brought Putin to power. In a very real sense the incompetent thinking of the U.S. leadership created Putin. Here is Soros' excellent assessment of what is going on now amongst the EU, the US and Russia. I should note that I completely agree with this essay, and it bodes ill for a peaceful future.