RUSSIA—ENIGMA, RIDDLE OR SOMETHING ELSE?
(Note to Readers: The UPI Editors have asked for a series of articles on Russia. This is the first) America’s infatuation with Russia can formally be dated from May 1867 when the U.S. paid $7.2 million ---worth about $1.3 billion today---for the purchase of Alaska. Called “Seward’s Folly” after Secretary of State William Seward who negotiated the deal, one of the reasons for the sale was Russian expectation that by buying Alaska, the U.S. would become a more deeply involved Pacific power and a counter balance to Britain---the Tsar’s greater worry at the time. Even then, geopolitics was not an unknown art to St. Petersburg outside the traditional European sphere. [...]
