Remember realpolitik? In modern America, it’s most associated with Henry Kissinger. The dictionaries say it’s an approach to foreign affairs and national security that’s “based on a country's situation and its needs rather than on ideas about what is morally right and wrong.” The U.S. and Russia face existential threats from militant Islam. The West in general does. When threats become “existential,” ideals and ethics become -- shall we say -- more pliable. They don’t become disposable, however. An entente with the Russians to suppress militant Islam makes sense, yet it doesn’t come without strings. There are perils.  A de facto American-Russian alliance mustn’t come without the U.S. sharply defining value. Realpolitik dictates that U.S. interests are preeminent -- and they’re global. Whatever advantages Russia extracts from an entente, the U.S. must seek to extract more and better. While the...(Read Full Article)