Soviet Union and Germany in 1939

I knew they were allies right up to the day Germany crossed the Soviet border. But I never realized that without the support of the latter there might have not been the WWII at all. Germany needed a powerful ally. The two countries attacked Poland together, and so it is correct to say that both Germany and the Soviet Union started the war. You can't say that in Russia to anybody. The country suffered a lot, and the propaganda demonized Germany and at the same time pictured the Red Army as heroes. That memory is untouchable. Nobody wants to hear about what happened in Poland and Finland in 1939.
I guess most of us like history being served in a certain way.

the fate of the former Soviet Asian republics

Read an article today in BBC about Dagestan. "Nearly 200 members of the security forces have been killed since 1999. Either during counter-terrorist operations, or as a result of assassinations by terrorists-extremists," "Allegations of police brutality, torture, kidnappings and disappearances persist in Dagestan." What is happening in those parts of Russian Federation and the former Soviet republics? There is almost no flow of information coming to us from that area. We're not allowed to "interfere with Russian inner policies", so we get no or little insight on what is happening in Dagestan, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and others. Should we have a better access to that information? Does it affect us directly or indirectly? Has that area become a breeding ground for new wave of terrorists recruitment? Will the next attack on US be carried out by someone born in Dagestan? Already there are terrorist cells from Uzbekistan causing trouble on Afghan/Pakistani border. Those areas are an economical and a cultural mess. Perfect grounds for the Islamic extremism finding new blood. And it's going to blow up in our face one day. But our liberal media doesn't want to "alarm" the nation. Terrorist threat is not a popular theme. It might, just might, even justify us going to Iraq. It's much more popular to discuss how the war on terror is overblown.

The missile shield in Europe

Could the placement of the missile shield in Europe be more than protection from the "rouge states"? Are we just not saying that we detect aggression in Russian policy? I wouldn't be surprised to find out that US government is quietly putting up a defense shield around the Russian Federation. Russia wants to be a bigger player again and the current president seems to carry the cold war mentality over into the 21st century.