WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: GEOPOLITICS, PUTIN STYLE. “According to Germany’s Spiegel, a chill has fallen over German-Russian relations even as summer reaches the far north. The Kremlin’s recent snubbing of German President Joachim Gauck and Putin’s absence at the G8 summit have led to suspicion as to how much swagger the Russian leader will exhibit in the coming months as his EU neighbors struggle. . . . Putin is certainly likely to enjoy some geopolitical benefits as the European Union writhes in its currency woes. But it takes more than weakened neighbors to make a great power. Putin’s Russia is essentially a limited and secondary power in the sense that its own wealth depends large on the prosperity of others. If the world economy slows, the price of oil and gas fall, and the position of whoever rules Russia weakens. The EU might suffer in such a scenario but Russia’s ability to capitalize on its neighbors’ distress will be limited by its own financial weakness.”