AP Photo

The Russians sure are feeling frisky these days. For the second time in a matter of months, they are threatening pre-emptive military strikes on NATO facilities unless the U.S. agrees to cancel the deployment of components of its anti-ballistic missile defence system. Specifically, Russia fears that long-range radars and interceptor rockets located in Poland and Romania might serve to weaken its ability to bombard North America with nuclear weapons. While about 30 years behind the times, there is some small measure of method to this madness. Russia remains a great power essentially because of two things: It has petroleum that it can ship to Europe, and nuclear warheads it can fire at North America.