Today Henry Kissinger met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as part of his duties on a bilateral panel, essentially offering his approval and stamp of legitimacy for the new leader: “I have followed with great interest your becoming president and the plans you have put forward in some of your speeches. I wish you every success. It is important for Russia and important for the world.” The 85-year-old Kissinger, a proponent of old school realism in foreign relations, has taken a great interest in inserting himself into the Russia debate over the past year, lobbying for softer policy toward Moscow on behalf of, well, himself I suppose. He certainly is not having tea in Moscow in any official role with the U.S. government, but with his influential clients in his consulting practice, perhaps there isn’t quite so much difference. Being an international lawyer working in business, human rights, and rule of law work, I will insert here some obligatory links toward Kissinger’s controversies, but I will also admit that I am usually not bored when he talks about Russia, even if it does often remind me of the 1970s.