Gregory Feifer reports for NPR from Moscow, covering Russia's resurgence under President Vladimir Putin and the country's transition to the post-Putin era. He files from other former Soviet republics and across Russia, where he's observed the effects of the country's vast new oil wealth on an increasingly nationalistic society as well as Moscow's rekindling of a new Cold War-style opposition to the West.
The grueling, decade-long war was a humiliating failure for a crumbling superpower. But 20 years later, Russians say it's a failure that holds grave implications for U.S. and NATO forces now in Afghanistan.
Just two weeks into President Obama's administration, Russia is moving to reassert its influence over former Soviet republics in Central Asia. Moscow is pushing military cooperation and offering financial aid in what some say is reminiscent of the Kremlin's client-state relationships during the Cold War.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev indicated Moscow will not be changing its hard-line rhetoric toward a Barack Obama administration. He announced Wednesday a new missile base near the Polish border.