Ah, the sweet smell of elections season, when Russia’s political environment blossoms into a stridently anti-Western minefield, hubristic enough so as to sufficiently distract the populace from the painful fact that they are deprived of basic electoral rights. Ultra-nationalist Dmitri Rogozin, the “bruiser” elected as Russia’s envoy to NATO, kicked things off this week by outright threatening Poland with the next “world war” if the missile shield sites are situated on its soil. But that’s just a warm-up. President Vladimir Putin, who is even more insulated than usual to make the most provocative statements, is leading the charge this week with renewed calls to develop new, high-tech weapons to confront NATO’s expansion. As if to commemorate the one year anniversary of his blistering Munich Security Conference speech (how quickly some have forgotten about that one – take note, Time Magazine…), Putin laid out his “will” for his successor – and scared the hell out anybody listening.