A weak Russia—one that cannot sustain a labor force, restore its social safety net or rebuild decaying infrastructure—risks becoming an unstable Russia. And instability in a country with the world's second-largest nuclear arsenal and a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council poses a danger the U.S. and Western Europe can ill afford.

It doesn't involve a doctor trading drugs for sex or the traditional local flashpoint of bikers vs. SUV drivers or actors of some note filming things in nearby states, and the Tribune pretty much buried it on the homepage today, so I think it falls to me to say read this article on cities in eastern Russia and enjoy it while the Trib continues to show some commitment to National Geographic-style, analytic foreign reporting. The photography's also very good, not to mention the sidebar on the health care system.

Also worth your time: "A Job Looking for a Job" by WBEZ Englewood reporter Natalie Moore.