The US is the empire that dare not speak its name.

Russia is Muscovy's aging, arthritic Trojan horse for kleptocratic empire building that's long past its expiry date for being euthanized.

The geopolitical and cultural chemo necessary to treat the empire cancer likely won't work without breaking up the patient.

America has been an empire since its founding. Read Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton (I can send you the pdf).

Russia is the Nokia of empire, China the Blackberry. America's the iPhone of informal, alliance network empire.

"far sight"? foresight.

Warren Buffett's aphorism about idiots running companies applies to narcissistic and sociopathic politicians in constitutional states: "Buy shares in a business that even an idiot could run, since sooner or later an idiot will be running it."

My UCLA classmate Michael Gelb spent a year in 1982-83 researching in Soviet archives the Stalin party purges in Leningrad. His aphorism about Russian history: "every time Russia has a fork in the road with a choice between what's practical and a tragedy, it chooses the latter."