Saber Rattling with Russia

Few political instruments are as finely tuned as former-U.N. Ambassador John Bolton's saber. He points it at Russia today on the op-ed page of The Washington Post. "What most risks 'provoking' Moscow,'" he writes, "is not Western resolve but Western weakness." How do we show our resolve? First, the West should admit Georgia and Ukraine to NATO. Second, it should bolster military cooperation with central and eastern European countries. And third, the U.S. should go full-sail ahead with missile defense plans in Poland. "U.S. opposition to Russia's recent behavior should not rest on a desire to 'punish' Russia," Bolton writes, "but on the critical need to brace Moscow before its behavior becomes even more unacceptable."