Russia: Nuclear Winter

Back when Bill and Boris were new in their jobs, they called each other friend and partner, and Washington placed its chips on a bet that Russia could be Poland--able to shed Marxism in short order for free markets, democracy and cooperation with the West. This week, when Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov arrives on his first official trip to Washington, the wreckage of that early optimism will be piled high. Yeltsin is sick, erratic and unpopular. Parliamentary elections scheduled for December are likely to give more power to communists and nationalists. The ruble's collapse last summer, Moscow's struggles with its...