Poland was the first to agree to a deal last week, as the Russian-Georgia battle jump started talks that had been deadlocked for over a year.

The latest to move was Ukraine, which announced it would give Europe and the US access to its missile warning systems - systems that were actually built by the Soviets.

A top Russian general publicly threatened the Poles with nukes last week after their move - one would expect the Ukranians can expect much the same, or worse, since the Russians have once before shut off a major natural gas pipeline to Ukraine in the dead of winter.

What does all this have to do with the next President?

Senators Obama and McCain might not have thought the next four years would have much to do with Russia, though McCain has been on the trail of Vladimir Putin for some time.

In fact, I went back to the first McCain event I covered in Salem, New Hampshire, and the Arizona Senator gave his line that basically ripped on President Bush, saying when he (McCain) looked in Putin's eyes, he saw three things, "a K, a G, and a B."

Right now, we have Georgia appealing to the US and Western Europe (NATO) to save it from the Russians.

Ukraine is casting its lot with the US and NATO. Remember, the Russians tried to poison the current Ukranian president during his campaign a few years ago. He almost died.

The Baltic governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania might not be far behind in asking the West for help.

What does it mean?

Is the US just going to standby if the Russians decide to move on some other former satellite?

Will Europe just stand aside?

There are no easy answers here. And it may be a more important part of foreign policy for the next administration than anyone ever imagined.