But each boxer now saw a superpower in his corner. Putin in his eight plus months in power has done more to put Russia back on the world map than Yeltsin in the eight plus years he was in power. For the first time since the Soviet Union was dissolved the Russian economy is improving. The Russians are back in the aerospace arena in force. While America's power, prosperity and prestige had gone up and up during most of Clinton's second term, all three have suddenly gone down.
American power is hobbled in the Middle East.
Its prosperity is threatened by a possible recession. And his influence in the oil-rich Arab world has plummeted. But the bright spot is that Russia is not an enemy though Putin has become a mighty rival to the US, especially in the military field. But the Palestinians want more than they have been offered and the Israelis have to give more. Earlier this year Clinton's gentle mediator mask came off and all trust vanished in the endless talks.