All you have to say about Serbia, whose just-elected government collapsed shortly after Kosovo’s declaration of independence, is that it faces a stark choice in the upcoming elections: the European Union or “self-imposed” isolation (“Election Time,” 15, 2008). In the wake of two recent books entitled The New Cold War (Mark Mackinnon in 2007 and Edward Lucas from your own staff in 2008), both of which point to Russia as a formidable player in the game, this sounds rather uninspired, if not outright dull-witted. Serbia’s alternative is not isolation, but ever-closer union with the new empire. No matter how fraught it may eventually become for Serbia, that future is far from enticing to the European Union. As well as America, another big player in the game you manage to leave out of your account of Serbia’s predicament. Russian companies have already gobbled up much of the Serbian energy sector. Whatever is still viable of the country’s wobbly economy may soon suffer the same fate. In a short while we may have Russian military encampments within the borders of the European Union. Food for thought, or what?