A long time ago, in a political arena far, far away, George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin came together as close allies to discuss the dangers of the global war on terror.

The once-hostile Soviet Union had become an affable friend, a fellow comrade in democracy. So close were these two leaders, Putin even poured out his emotions to Bush and confided in him about immeasurable challenges post-Soviet Russia still faced in converting to a working democracy.

Bush publicly announced that he "looked into Putin's eyes and had seen his soul."

Years later, Putin would again visit the U.S. to discuss diplomatic ties. This time, however, he would be talking to a diplomatically weakened superpower.

One can only imagine Putin's inner glee when he saw evidence of this decline: So incompetent was the current U.S. president, that rather than meeting with him alone, Putin also had to meet with his father.

Apparently, Bush had been so diplomatically challenged, he had to ask his daddy to come save the day and talk to the intimidating Putin for him. How had it come to this? How had it come from these nuclear-powered soul mates taking long walks on the beach to being babysat by George H.W. Bush?

There is no simple answer. The one that has the most weight is the war on terror totally rearranged the political topography of the world. While we became bogged down in Iraq, many countries used our distraction to build bonds with emerging powers.

This especially was the case with Russia, which began to strengthen its ties with the terrorist state of Iran and with China (supposedly the world's next superpower).

This created a power nexus the world hadn't seen since, perhaps, the Axis powers in World War II. There is a very real possibility that economic and military power is shifting to the East. Iran has its hands in several Middle Eastern countries and is using its influence to bog down American troops in a bloody civil war.

At the same time, China has the fastest-growing economy in the world and has sold various weapons to Iran that have indirectly led to American casualties in Iraq. If that wasn't bad enough, China also has been building up forces in its southeast region.

This power grab doesn't simply stop in the East. For fear of rogue states like Iran firing missiles into Europe, the European Union has developed a comprehensive plan to begin work on an international missile defense system. The missile defense system would mutually protect the U.S. and any E.U. countries from potential nuclear or biochemical warfare. This made Putin incredibly uncomfortable. He questioned the need for a missile defense system in a relative time of peace and questioned whether the E.U.'s intentions were purely defensive.

The suggestion obviously was because the E.U. intended this system for a surprise, multilateral attack in case of a time of war.

Putin claimed if the U.S. was looking to start another arms race, they would certainly have it. He claimed the U.S. had become imperialistic and wanted nothing less than to take over the world. All of this anti-American language and talks of a new arms race even got Defense Secretary Robert Gates concerned. At a U.N. meeting, he half-jokingly said, "One Cold War is enough."

This incident with Russia teaches us how easily all the progress in the world can crumble if the U.S. doesn't stand by its ideals. During the Cold War, the world sided with the U.S. In contrast to Russia, our home was seen as the land of hope and democracy. We used our economic might to aid poorer countries, so they would not have to be tempted by the false promises of totalitarian Communism. We alienated no one and invited everyone in the political process.

Not so in the war on terror. We have isolated ourselves against our allies and have given time for enemies to get stronger. Not only that, but it also has become difficult to sell ourselves as a wonderful alternative to totalitarianism. The war on terror not only has given power to our enemies, but it has rekindled a political dynamic of paranoia and mistrust. If we truly wish to avoid going backward to the problems of the Cold War, we need to assure the world of our just cause and fight more with our economic might than our military might, just like we did during the Cold War.

If we don't change our ways, we might find that Iraq won't be our only problem. Russia - and Putin's triumphant visit with Bush Sr. - remind us of this.