During his visit to Russia, Chief of Pentagon Robert Gates fired the noon cannon at the Peter and Paul Fortress over St. Petersburg, a custom started by Peter the Great. CNN reports: "With the city laid out in front of him and the ice-covered river below, Gates practiced a couple of times and then counted down the final five seconds to the traditional midday firing. He was presented with the shell casing as a memento of the day."

While in Russia, Gates did not talk about Libya at all. In fact, he almost silently agreed with Putin's remarks against the coalition's military actions in the Middle East. However, he talked a lot about his past in the CIA, and lamented the Cold War. "In the days of the Cold War, it seemed the world was a lot simpler," Gates told Russian Navy officers. "There was the Soviet Union. There was us. Almost every problem of the world was defined by that relationship. Once the Cold War got over, the world got a lot more complicated."

Coincidentally, just a couple weeks ago I was hosted at a private movie party devoted to the Cold War. The party, which took place in a Nashville's finer neighborhood movie theater, featured liters of Jack Daniels, vodka, and the great old movie with Kirk Douglas "Seven Days in May" (1964). The American guests at the party mirrored Gates' recollections of the past: during the Cold Way the world was safer, the enemies were civilized and predictable, and--in fact--similar to each other (political agendas aside). Today, both Russia and the U.S. are facing the common enemy, the one who has no home, morals, or honor.