"The Oil and the Glory, The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea," is a new book by Steve LeVine and is a MUST read for anyone wanting to put a resurgent international Russia into a proper and sobering perspective. Based on his eleven years in the Caspian area reporting for the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times and Newsweek he presented at a UCLA gathering an assessment of this critical region and its colorful history, its dynamic characters, and its unpredictable and unsettling impact on world events today. LeVine's book can easily be classed as a sequel to Daniel Yergin's "The Prize."

LeVine underlines how misdirected our diplomacy is today towards Russia. I remember most vividly two main points: 1. That the US is fighting the wrong war. The "cold warriors" in Washington are thinking about rockets and radar and Russia is acting with its energy and pipelines. (In a human metaphor, it's like the US is thinking about eyes and arms and legs and Russia is thinking about the heart and arteries,) 2. That Russia is not run by Putin and the siloviki or the KGB as the media likes to dramatize, but by the energy barons, the guys who control oil and gas in that country and those in Central Asia. (I agree they may, in many cases, be the same)

LeVine's book appeals for its colorful historical and personal perspective. It is also a great read. It could be a film. But it could have a more iimportant and positive impact if American leadership would pull its head out of the military-industrial sand and understand the geopolitical and geo-economic realities. The panel of UCLA professors last night was equally insightful with perceptive tangents on LeVine's main message.

This book and message deserves the widest study in this election time. When all politics are supposed to be local -- this really can hit home like nothing else can, if we understand what is really going on. In a world with $100/barrel oil, I think this message should reach every thinking person -- and the candidates.

Frederick R. Andresen, President, Prioritel Holdings, Inc., author of "Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia."