Your article about Eastern Europe focuses, rightly, on America and Russia (“Pipedreams,” January 26, 2008). As you show, they are vying for geopolitical influence mainly over gas pipelines and defense alliances. Serbia is considered to be one of the “swing states,” where Russia and the West are now in a scuffle. The other such states are Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, possibly including Latvia and Bulgaria, both of which are in the European Union already. It is obvious from your article that Russia is currently winning in this contest, especially after the recent Serbian elections, when a major Russian conglomerate secured the key Serbian energy assets. And it is also obvious that the European Union is playing a negligible rôle in the geopolitical game, which seems to be the main reason why America is involved in the first place. How else would one of the swing states be right in the middle of the European Union, at least geographically speaking? Come to think of it, are you sure the whole of Europe should not be considered a swing continent, instead?

Addendum (January 30, 2008)

Yesterday I got a nice response to this letter. It was an electronic-mail message from Edward Lucas, Central and Eastern Europe correspondent of The Economist, as well as a deputy editor of the mighty newspaper concerned with international affairs. We have corresponded before, as well, and we are usually on the same page. Here is his last message in its entirety:

Thank you for another pithy and lucid letter. I agree that Russia is winning the swing states (and senior officials I talk to are, in private, increasingly alarmed about this). And yes, Germany is one of them, and as a result, Europe is a swing continent. Just as during the Cold War, we are pitifully dependent on the Americans looking out for us (and of course their interest is not always wholly altruistic).

He goes a step farther than me by calling Germany one of the swing states, thus making the argument about Europe as a swing continent so much more cogent. I replied that I was glad we agreed, but that this agreement made me so much sadder. And I concluded thus: “Europe deserves better, I feel for some strange reason.” This is nothing but sentimental fluff, though. Europe is just another theater in other people’s wars.