About the time that George Bush was telling us that he had looked into Vladimor Putin's eye and pronounced him "straightforward and trustworthy," Andrej Illiaronov, Putin's economic adviser between 2000 and 2005 and now working forf the Cato Institute, was digesting the Russian president's views on empire and what territories belonged to Putin by virtue of his predecessor's conquests. The list is getting longer. Wall Street Journal: Andrej Illiaronov, Putin's economic adviser between 2000 and 2005 and now senior member of the Cato Institute think tank, said that "parts of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Finland are states where Putin claims to have ownership." Putin's view is that he protects what belongs to him and his predecessors," he said. When asked if Putin wishes to return to the Russia of the last tsar, Nicholas II, Illiaronov said: "Yes, if it becomes...(Read Full Post)