In a newspaper interview in early June, in response to Washington’s plans to deploy a ballistic missile defense shield in Europe, Putin threatened to redirect Russian warheads at military targets on the continent. If his purpose was to unnerve, driving yet another wedge between the United States and the European countries (some of whom are increasingly hostile towards the policies of the U.S.), it was effective. Television and newspaper commentary in Europe got the message, and the coverage was swift and widespread.

In an interview with Milan’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Putin was asked whether the U.S. plans would force the Russian military to direct missiles at locations in Europe, as was the case during the Cold War. "Naturally, yes," Putin answered. "If the American nuclear potential grows in European territory, we have to give ourselves new targets in Europe. It is up to our military to define these targets, in addition to defining the choice between ballistic and cruise missiles." Putin did not want anybody to miss his message. Shortly afterwards on Russian TV he repeated the same message, stressing that “nobody should hold Russia responsible for whatever Russia would have to do.”

The shocking warning from the Russian leader may change the current peaceful landscape in the Eastern Hemisphere that many had taken for granted. This may precipitate one of two things: first, a further alienation of the United States from its allies in Western Europe, promoted by at least some circles dissatisfied with George Bush’s policies regarding Iraq or even global warming. The second would be to move newer members of the European Union (former vassal states of the Soviet Union, and the ones that know Russia best), even closer to the United States.

In short, further polarization of Europe is likely.

The new multiple-warhead missile tested recently by the Russian military, combined with Putin’s threats, are bound to cause a resumption of the arms race, and perhaps a proliferation of a new generation of nuclear weapons not seen since the end of the Cold War. After almost two decades of relaxation, at least rhetorically, we are making a full circle back to the pre-Gorbachev era.

The talks by the U.S. about building an anti-missile shield around Europe, ostensibly aimed at lesser threats such as Iran or Syria, have added fuel to the fire. Ever the conciliator, Bush, who’s been weakened both internally and abroad by the mess in Iraq, tried to defuse the impact of Putin’s comments by saying, “Russia is not the enemy.”

But Russia under Putin, flush with cash on the back of its vast energy resources and high oil prices, is again trying to unmask the old Soviet beast. Familiar traits are showing up – international political defiance, ignoring democratic principles, police forces whose function is repression instead of protection, adoption of a bunch of nuisance laws, and the suppression of any opposition. This metamorphosis not only has reshaped Russia’s internal policies but has injected venom in the country’s external relations – not just against the United States, but also against other countries at a very inopportune time just before the G8 summit in Germany.

Will this new brinkmanship end in Europe or will it spread elsewhere? An obvious next move by Putin could be to approach the Latin American countries of the “Bolivarian belt,” headed and agitated by Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez. The long-term agreements signed by Gazprom and Lukoil (to develop oil and gas fields and surface infrastructure in the area) may be just the needed pretext for a re-emergence of the former Soviet military presence in the Western Hemisphere that led to the Cuban missile crisis. In a world that has been lulled by the presence of a presumably integrated Russia into the world community, the prospect of another Cold War was until recently unthinkable. If anything, world competition was expected between the U.S. and China. But under Putin, Russia, like a jilted ex-spouse, is not to be ignored, and that country’s future no longer seems so clear-cut.