The United States and Russia share some common elements. One of them is that both countries are drawing to the end of eight years of rule by relatively young presidents, George W. Bush, 61, and Vladimir V. Putin, 55.

It is easy to see how the similarities between their situations when they first met near the beginning of their presidencies in 2001 could have suggested to Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin that they could have a fruitful, cooperative relationship. But since then, they have drifted apart personally and their two countries are increasingly at odds after Mr. Bush's government went on its Iraq "tear," throwing away whatever commonality Mr. Putin's Russia felt with it in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Mr. Putin and Russia were among the first to express profound sympathy and promise full cooperation with the United States in responding to the terrorist assault of that September day. Russia considered at that point that it, too, was fighting terrorism in Chechnya and rebel Chechens in Russia itself.

It must have been particularly difficult for Mr. Putin, a specialist in intelligence and national security, to see that Afghanistan had become the base for America's al-Qaida attackers, hosted by the Taliban, who had eventually succeeded the Soviet-backed government in Kabul after the Soviets pulled out in 1989.

Mr. Putin was also undoubtedly conscious of the U.S. role in driving the Soviets out, creating the opening for the Islamic extremist mujahedeen militia, some of which morphed into the Taliban. Analysts think the war in Afghanistan bled the last drops from an already faltering Soviet Union and its failed economy, bringing about its collapse in 1991.

For some Americans, particularly those who consider Ronald W. Reagan to have been a great president, the fall of the Soviet Union, especially to the extent it was hastened by the Soviet failure in Afghanistan, was an American triumph. Another way of looking at it is that in knocking down the Soviets the United States created a vacuum in Afghanistan, to be filled by the Taliban and al-Qaida, to America's ultimate misfortune.

The parallel in Iraq must be considered, although this time it isn't the Soviet Union, a coherent global power, that is hacking away at the United States in Iraq, where we have upturned the apple cart much as we did in Afghanistan. It is very likely that Iraq, after a U.S. departure, will be as much of a Halloween fright house as Afghanistan was after the Soviets left.

That is no argument for staying. It is in fact an argument for proceeding with the inevitable, permitting the Iraqis themselves to re-establish some new or old equilibrium in their wrecked country. The Taliban are coming back now in Afghanistan, and they, too, seem to be unavoidable.

Back to the point of departure between Mr. Putin's Russia and Mr. Bush's America at the beginning of their runs in 2001.

Both had succeeded presidents who had been relatively successful and had then lost their moral tone and ability to lead their countries.

Boris N. Yeltsin had pulled Russia up by its bootstraps from the ruins of the old Soviet Union through courage, bravado, vodka and imagination. His lack of management skills and his laissez-faire approach had, in the name of modernization and a free market, allowed the Russian economy to turn into the equivalent of a hockey scrum. The country was ripe for the disciplined heavy hand of Mr. Putin.

The U.S. economy had flourished under President Bill Clinton and he had kept America away from military adventures. He had also prepared America spiritually for the dessicated, early-to-bed leadership of Mr. Bush, who -- probably through carelessness -- allowed himself to be sold an unwise, destructive-to-America war.

Mr. Putin hopped on the wave of rising oil prices and saw Russia's gross domestic product per capita grow by 350 percent in a decade. Capital investment in Russia last year rose 21 percent. Its construction market grew by 20 percent.

Let's don't even think about the American economy. Gas prices are ruining the lives of anyone who isn't well-to-do. The rest is foreclosures, inflation, stagnant wages and a president and vice president who came from the oil industry and are ideologically opposed to any measure that might reduce oil company profits. High oil prices are Russia's gain, Americans' loss.

Russia under Mr. Putin has brought Chechnya more or less under control by giving it increased self-government and cash. There remain 40,000 Russian troops there, as well. Russia also closed its last base in neighboring Georgia and Mr. Putin paid the first visit of a top Russian leader since Stalin to Iran late last year.

Mr. Putin selected his own successor, Dmitry A. Medvedev. The newly elected president, 42, speaks English, is a lawyer and has headed Russia's natural gas company for years. He is considered a reliable disciple of Mr. Putin but has hinted that he may tackle some reforms, including that of Russia's corrupt, decrepit justice system. He has spoken of Russia's "universal disregard for the rule of law." (Ours is more limited: We have only scrapped due process of law and the right to privacy.)

Unlike Mr. Putin, Mr. Bush, through his own choices and failures, has foregone nearly all influence in choosing his successor. He selected Dick Cheney twice as vice president, avoiding competition as well as the traditional anointing of a Republican crown prince.

Mr. Putin apparently will be Russia's prime minister now, continuing as a player. After January, Mr. Bush will be left to make paid speeches, clear brush and hang out in his new, partly foreign-financed library at Southern Methodist University. Who would have guessed in 2001?