@Pinochet73,
Pinochet73;36455 wrote:That figures. Russia wants to complicate things for America, as it struggles to become a world-power again. The bigger threat is China, The Sleeping Giant.
China isn't nearly the threat its made out to be. Look into its trade relationships, namely with the US and Iran, and you'll find they're too dependent to do something as stupid as say, act aggressively towards another nation.
The Russian Federation has more going for it than most people notice. They sell natural gas and oil to the EU, mostly Germany, but they import natural gas and oil from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan at a lower price than their export resources as debt payment. They still hold massive influence over Kazahstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, the three former Soviet Republics with access to the Caspain Sea, an area that could become the next global petroleum reserve. Further, Russia's national budget is balanced (unlike our own), their GDP increases every year, and their armed forces still rival those of the United States (Mig 31's, T-90's, and of course, the largest stockpile of WMD's on the planet). Vladimir Putin is the best thing to happen to the Russian people since the advent of vodka.
Mark my words, America's hegemonic replacement will be the Russian Federation. China is an exaggerated blip on the radar screen. They haven't known global power since the Qing Dynasty, and they're not going to see it anytime soon.
