NEW YORK — This week's summit of the major Group of Eight nations will probably be the last such meeting for U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Seven years ago, at their first meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Bush looked into Putin's eyes and somehow spotted the soul of a Christian gentleman, not that of a secret policeman. This week they shouldn't be surprised if they see a mirror of each other, because both men have exemplified the arrogance of power. Bush and Putin both came to power in 2000, a year when their countries were scrambling to regain international respect — Russia from the chaos of the Yeltsin years, and the United States from the failed impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Each country thought it was becoming an unthreatening mediocrity. But both men, on finding themselves in positions of authority, ruled from default positions — Bush as an evangelical convinced that God was on America's side, and Putin as a KGB graduate convinced that all power derives from intimidation and threats.