(quote)

Russia is taking in an extra $11.4 billion a month above its normal oil revenues, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Russia's state-controlled oil firm, Rosneft, just reported that its revenues have tripled over those a year ago. That can only strengthen the confidence of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, analysts said. Putin has resisted the Iran sanctions, is rolling back democratic reforms at home and has threatened his neighbors with nuclear attacks and cut-offs of energy supplies.

"Any time you have a sudden change in the distribution of wealth, things become rocky," said Rachel Bronson, an international petroleum expert at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. "The Persian Gulf states, Russia and Venezuela all of a sudden have huge cash surpluses. ... It's destabilizing. You see a bolder Putin, and an emboldened Chavez, who really didn't need to be emboldened," she said.

Back in Oct. 16, 2007, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said at a summit meeting of five Caspian Sea nations in Iran on Tuesday that any use of military force in the region was unacceptable. In a declaration, the countries agreed that none would allow their territories to be used as a base for military strikes against any of the others.

Mr. Putin was the first Kremlin leader to travel to Iran since 1943, when Stalin attended a wartime summit meeting with Churchill and Roosevelt.

“We should not even think of making use of force in this region,” Mr. Putin said. Mr. Putin’s comments and the declaration come at a time when the United States has refused to rule out military action to halt Iran’s nuclear energy program, which it believes masks a desire to develop nuclear weapons.

“Not only should we reject the use of force, but also the mention of force as a possibility,” Mr. Putin said.

With an on-going war with Iraq, Bush has refused to rule out any action in Iran, saying "all options" were on the table - a phrase he has used that has been interpreted as not precluding military strikes.

(unquote)

Images Courtesy of Mikhail Klimentyev/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images and Times Magazine

Original Source: The Baltimore Sun and The New York Times