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Back to Cold War?

THE sparks flying off the Bush-Putin encounter this week leave one wondering if the world is going back to the Cold War years. While the resurrection of Cold War hostilities is hardly a distinct possibility for various reasons including Russia's considerably diminished power and stature, you can't miss the new tension in US-Russian ties.

The uneasy body language of Presidents Bush and Putin says it all. The rapport, which once famously helped Bush look into his Russian counterpart’s soul, is distinctly missing.

If the 60th anniversary of the World War II this week saw old foes like Russia, Germany and Japan come together; it also renewed old tensions and opened forgotten wounds. So behind the Bush-Putin debate on democracy, which led to accusations against each other lies the legacy of old, fashioned superpower rivalry. Russia may have lost its big power grandeur and clout but still finds it hard to digest when its former rival, US, challenges its control over the Baltic backyard.

However, Moscow can do little to check growing US influence in the region. From Baltic states to Ukraine to Georgia, once part of Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc, the Kremlin's authority is being challenged everywhere. The fact that Bush's visit to Europe began with Latvia and concluded in Georgia goes to underline the dramatic change in Moscow's equations with its former allies-colonies and rest of the world. And the new Czar in Kremlin can do little about it. It's the way of the world.