I like American women. They do things sexually Russian girls never dream of doing - like showering.

During the Cold War we were interested because we were scared that Russia and the United States were going to go to war. We were scared that Russia was going to take over the world. Every country became a battleground.

If it hadn't been for the Cold War neither Russia nor America would have been sending people into space.

Suicidal violence is not the exclusive property of the Muslim world. Suicide bombings were a tactic of nationalist struggles in 19th-century Europe and Russia the far east during the second world war and the Vietnam war and in modern Sri Lanka.

To say that you now trust the Russian military command and control system because some Russian general told you from the bottom of his heart that's the case strikes me as most unrealistic.

You know among people who kind of travel a lot and have exposure to the United States and some other countries they do have accounts but you know Russia is not exactly the place with multiple language skills so local networks kind of have an edge.

I had one companion. He was a teacher from the Ukraine who spoke English so we could communicate a bit. I learnt a few Russian words but it was hard to concentrate.

Following my junior year in high school I went on a camping trip through Russia in a group led by Horst Momber a young language teacher from Roosevelt.

My father was an immigrant who literally walked across Europe to get out of Russia. He fought in World War I. He was wounded in action. My father was a great success even though he never had money. He was a very determined man a great role model.

In emerging democracies like Russia in authoritarian states like Iran or even Yugoslavia journalists play a vital role in civil society. In fact they form the very basis of those new democracies and civil societies.