It is quite possible that a few months from now the world community could be in the thrall of perhaps two of the most despised, if not dangerous, individuals since Hitler and Mussolini bestrode the Axis alliance during World War 2. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for US president, seem to have some kind of mutual admiration society going. Putin, shunned by the West, has every reason to cultivate a friendship with the man who could occupy the White House come November.The toenadering between the two has almost overshadowed what is a historic moment, the nomination of Hillary Clinton as the first woman to run for US president.story_article_left1Trump's candidacy seemed improbable. But he's demolished a field of 16 accomplished veterans and is now set to take on Clinton.Underestimating someone running for office is not always a good idea. Ronald Reagan was dismissed as a B-movie actor. He won in a landslide against Jimmy Carter. George W Bush was incoherent and vacuous. The US is still cleaning up his mess.The outcome of the Brexit referendum in the UK has shown we live in unpredictable times.This week, some polls indicated Trump running neck and neck with Clinton. The news created panic among Democrats meeting at their convention in Philadelphia.Trump has expressed his admiration for Putin and sees him as a better leader than Barack Obama. But Putin is no democrat; he's a thug with untrammelled power. That Trump should find such a man appealing should ring alarm bells.What delighted Trump even more this week was the release by WikiLeaks of thousands of hacked Democratic Party e-mails ahead of the convention. That set the cat among the pigeons. It intensified the civil war in the Democratic Party and almost derailed the convention.US intelligence agencies say they're almost certain it's the work of Russian spies, although it's unclear how the e-mails ended up with WikiLeaks, which then released them at a time when they would have maximum impact.block_quotes_start He has watched with disgust as its satellite states join Nato and the EU. He wants to take his country back to its former glory, by fair means or foul block_quotes_endWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is keen to frustrate Clinton's presidential ambitions. But why WikiLeaks would want to facilitate a Trump presidency is still a mystery. Assange, who's been holed up at the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012 for fear of extradition to Sweden to face rape charges, seems to have a grievance against the whole world.Trump got overexcited, calling on the Russians to release even more damaging e-mails on Clinton. The idea that a US presidential candidate would call on a hostile power to snoop on his opponent confirms suspicions that Trump lacks the temperament to be US president.Initially there was a belief that people would ultimately be turned off by Trump's buffoonery. But nothing seems to stick to him. Such gaffes only earn him more support.Trump says that under his leadership the US won't necessarily defend its Nato allies if they are attacked by a foreign power.story_article_right2That has sent shivers down the collective spine of Baltic states. Also, Russia would be allowed to hang on to the Crimea and sanctions against Russia would be lifted - music to Putin's ears.Putin has disabused the Americans of the notion that the collapse of the Berlin Wall would signify the end of the Cold War. At his first meeting with Putin in Slovenia in 2001, Bush said: "I looked the man in the eye. I found him straightforward and trustworthy. I was able to get a sense of his soul." He spoke too soon.Putin went on to subdue Chechnya and wage war with Georgia, and has now annexed the Crimea.Obama, too, was initially fooled. He ridiculed Mitt Romney, his opponent in the 2012 presidential elections, for suggesting that Russia remained the US's fiercest foe. Clinton, as secretary of state, tried to "reset the button" in US-Russia relations. Putin saw that as a sign of weakness.Putin is still smarting from the collapse of the Soviet Union. He has watched with disgust as its satellite states join Nato and the EU. He wants to take his country back to its former glory, by fair means or foul. In the process he has turned Russia into a near pariah - its Olympic team almost didn't make it to the Rio Olympics, after a state-sponsored doping campaign was uncovered.Russia has reason to be apprehensive about a Clinton White House. She's more hawkish than Obama. And after the latest revelations, she would obviously want to have her pound of flesh. Which is why the Kremlin would want to help her opponent.But Putin and Trump at the helm, with access to dangerous weapons, is an even scarier prospect. As a despairing observer noted, Putin would run rings around Trump...