Ukraine

Viktor Yushchenko has won the presidential race. What does this say about Russian influence in the world? Nothing good:

Ukraine has been a litmus test of Russia's capacity to influence events in the neighbouring countries.
And it appears that capacity is limited after the defeat of Mr Yanukovych, the candidate Moscow directly backed with money, moral support, advertising and TV airtime. . . .
One communist newspaper, Pravda, says the result means "the complete loss of our gas and oil export routes to the USA or the European Union". It also voices the fear that Mr Yushchenko's election means "Russia no longer exists as a world-class power". Pravda blames Washington for this.
Centrist commentators portray a very different situation.
A writer for business publication Kommersant claims the outcome of Ukraine's political crisis means "the Orange Revolution virus will now spread to Russia".
He writes: "It will not take long to dismantle the new Russian totalitarianism".

Vladimir Putin had a great opportunity to move Russia forward but it seems as though you can take a comrade out of the KGB but you can't take KGB out of the comrade. He still thinks that Russia has a sphere of influence with it's former satellites but no longer does.

Perhaps it's time for Putin to become more introspective and deal with the rising crime, the Yukos situation and the search for more natural resources in Siberia.