Russia Rearms for a New Era

[Chinese-Dragon]

This is your politicians fault on the point of making right decisions. Military is a cash eater and you need strong economy to feed it up and keep strong. One of the criteria of military might can be calculated of resources. How long can an army keep fighting during a war in a row, cash stocks, reflections to the domestic economy etc..

That's why you need both. Strong economy without a military to protect it will end up in disaster, as we saw during the Century of Humiliation.

Now today, China is the number 1 exporter in the world, but can America "order" us to massively appreciate our currency in favor of American exporters, like they did to Japan with the Plaza Accord?

In fact they did try many times. They have been crying the whole last decade about the Chinese Yuan being undervalued and killing off American exporters. But we aren't going to crash our own economy with a Plaza Accord, for the benefit of American exporters like Japan was forced to do.

That's why we developed thermonuclear weapons and ICBM's in the 1960's. Because we don't want our fate to be held in the hands of foreigners. We can forge our own path, instead of simply following the American rules. So we set up organizations like the AIIB, and even America's own allies ended up joining it. This is our own path.

 

[Cyberian]

... Nothing wrong with asking the US for protection. But the US is fickle, their friends in one decade become their enemies in the next decade (Saddam being the obvious example).

What happens if they turn around and decide you are their enemy? Then what?

I guess you remember when America was banging the war drums against Pakistan somewhere during 2011. Or when they famously threatened to send Pakistan back to the stone age if they did not help America invade Afghanistan. Their alignments are fickle and ever changing.

When were Pakistan or Iraq ever NATO members?

However, within NATO there has been no war for decades on end. No NATO country lives in fear of another NATO country. And why on Earth would the US turn against other NATO members? It's not like the US is governed by a communist party or some dictator for life.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

When were Pakistan or Iraq ever NATO members?

However, within NATO there has been no war for decades on end. No NATO country lives in fear of another NATO country. And why on Earth would the US turn against other NATO members? It's not like the US is governed by a communist party or some dictator for life.

Yes, why would America suddenly turn against their allies and threaten to bomb them into the stone age.

Why would they throw their allies under the bus, like when the Philippines was losing territory to China in 2012, when Georgia lost half their country to Russia in 2008, or when Ukraine lost Crimea in 2014.

The answer is very simple. In geopolitics, the most important thing is national self-interests.

That's assuming a lunatic like Trump doesn't come to power and carry on America's glorious record of launching 3 wars in the past decade alone.

 

[Super Falcon]

No

This is how paranoia and fear make countries act. Their gas dependant economy is collapsing and still increase military budget. Next step much more opposite voice will rise within country, eventually people will uprise due to bad economic conditions. Finally end of Putin's wet dreams.

Not so easy russia has worlds biggest oil reserves more than ksa see on google

Putin is here to stay

 

[Kakaspai]

Economy comes first, military has no primary role on independence if you are economically integrated to the global capitalism to teeth and if your economy based on natural resources. Even more if the oil prices is not under your rule, you are no independent my friend. This is reality.

If economy is good without strong military than countries like america try to force democracy down their throat

 

[Ankit Kumar]

No

Not so easy russia has worlds biggest oil reserves more than ksa see on google

Putin is here to stay

Putin or No Putin.Few Russians I have talked to praise a lot about him. I mean the style of Putin has made a mark among Russians. His ideology of greater Russian Empire is here to stay.He may not be in the power for long, but someone with his style will come up to replace him.

 

[Super Falcon]

Putin or No Putin.Few Russians I have talked to praise a lot about him. I mean the style of Putin has made a mark among Russians. His ideology of greater Russian Empire is here to stay.He may not be in the power for long, but someone with his style will come up to replace him.

Man after starlin he is only guy who had bond in russian blood

 

[mike2000 is back]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm............This is an interesting topic. Economic/military power.

well, to be honest, Russia is simply modernizing its military after the neglect its army went through after the collapse of the Soviet Union. So they are merely making up for all the lost time.

Moreover, Strong can be ambiguous, when people say strong, Does strong militarily mean with respect to defense against likely attacks? Deterrence/MAD? Ability to project force to support policy aims? If so then basically all major western powers are farrrrrrrrrrr stronger than necessary(especially U.K and France).

Also, Germany and Japan are often cited as examples of strong economies without strong militaries. It is not necessarily true. On one hand, they have sufficient military forces that can defend their sovereign territories from conventional attacks. On the other hand, the former country is protected by the US/U.K/France military alliances including their nuclear umbrella while the other is protected by the U.S only. So we can say a strong economy is a fruit of social stability. A strong military is a guarantor of a stable society. Thus, every strong country has a strong enough military to at least secure its own borders.

Thing is, everything all of what has been said here is correct.
A strong military without a strong economy is doomed in the long run(just like the soviet union in the past, and just like Russia is doing yet again today).
A Strong economic/political power without a strong military is also worrying. However this depends, as i said below strong is relative and can be interpreted differently.

As we all know，Russia has powerful scientific technology，it even provides big powers like China with many military equipments. And Russia has many famous scientists，and its land is really big(he biggest in the world actually), With great scientific technique and big land space. Some will ask why Russian economy is worse than Chinese/western economy.
I will summarize the reasons for this dilemma. It's because Russia

• failed to reform its economy and still does not have a solid plan for the future,
• failed to reform its legal system and root out corruption,
• rounded up most media under state control and optimized them for propaganda that distracts people from economy issues,
• spent too much on the military since circa 2009,as this article points out, even though their economy is shrinking/contracting.
• directed the best and the brightest to work on weapons rather than on improving Russia's economy,
• blindly relied on high oil prices and made losing bets (you can find videos with Putin and other Russian officials explaining in detail why oil prices cannot fall below $85/bl, $70/bl, $60/bl, etc),
• consistently tried to use natural gas exports to Europe and other trade for political blackmail, thus undermining its neighbors and customers, encouraging them to look elsewhere,(who else will pay the price we pay?lol).
• violated major treaties it signed and thus undermined business confidence,
• antagonized the West while relying on Western funding, technology and markets for hydrocarbons
• when appointing officials, is now preferring political loyalty over technical expertise (but not as strongly as in the USSR though).lol

I can still remember seeing a Video with Putin explaining (in Fall 2014) why world oil prices cannot drop significantly below $85, and if they do, they should drag down the US dollar. lool As we know in 2015, both claims are patently false.

It's also interesting how Putin expresses respect for the King of Saudi Arabia, whereas his Foreign Minister Lavrov inadvertently called the Saudis idiots in the Summer 2015 while being recorded ("idiots" is a very forgiving translation).

 

[Cyberian]

Yes, why would America suddenly turn against their allies and threaten to bomb them into the stone age.

Why would they throw their allies under the bus, like when the Philippines was losing territory to China in 2012, when Georgia lost half their country to Russia in 2008, or when Ukraine lost Crimea in 2014.

The answer is very simple. In geopolitics, the most important thing is national self-interests.

That's assuming a lunatic like Trump doesn't come to power and carry on America's glorious record of launching 3 wars in the past decade alone.

Again my Chinese friend, when were the Philippines, Georgia and Ukraine part of NATO?

You can't expect the US to protect everyone else (allies or not) same as NATO members. Everyone else has to pay like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, etc.

There's been no conflict within the NATO block since its inception, no one complains, no one is oppressed, all countries are fully developed and industrialised, so I don't know why you're trying to imply the US has treated or may treat other NATO member states unfairly.

 

[Cyberian]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm............This is an interesting topic. Economic/military power.

well, to be honest, Russia is simply modernizing its military after the neglect its army went through after the collapse of the Soviet Union. So they are merely making up for all the lost time.

Moreover, Strong can be ambiguous, when people say strong, Does strong militarily mean with respect to defense against likely attacks? Deterrence/MAD? Ability to project force to support policy aims? If so then basically all major western powers are farrrrrrrrrrr stronger than necessary(especially U.K and France).

Also, Germany and Japan are often cited as examples of strong economies without strong militaries. It is not necessarily true. On one hand, they have sufficient military forces that can defend their sovereign territories from conventional attacks. On the other hand, the former country is protected by the US/U.K/France military alliances including their nuclear umbrella while the other is protected by the U.S only. So we can say a strong economy is a fruit of social stability. A strong military is a guarantor of a stable society. Thus, every strong country has a strong enough military to at least secure its own borders.

Thing is, everything all of what has been said here is correct.
A strong military without a strong economy is doomed in the long run(just like the soviet union in the past, and just like Russia is doing yet again today).
A Strong economic/political power without a strong military is also worrying. However this depends, as i said below strong is relative and can be interpreted differently.

As we all know，Russia has powerful scientific technology，it even provides big powers like China with many military equipments. And Russia has many famous scientists，and its land is really big(he biggest in the world actually), With great scientific technique and big land space. Some will ask why Russian economy is worse than Chinese/western economy.
I will summarize the reasons for this dilemma. It's because Russia

• failed to reform its economy and still does not have a solid plan for the future,
• failed to reform its legal system and root out corruption,
• rounded up most media under state control and optimized them for propaganda that distracts people from economy issues,
• spent too much on the military since circa 2009,as this article points out, even though their economy is shrinking/contracting.
• directed the best and the brightest to work on weapons rather than on improving Russia's economy,
• blindly relied on high oil prices and made losing bets (you can find videos with Putin and other Russian officials explaining in detail why oil prices cannot fall below $85/bl, $70/bl, $60/bl, etc),
• consistently tried to use natural gas exports to Europe and other trade for political blackmail, thus undermining its neighbors and customers, encouraging them to look elsewhere,(who else will pay the price we pay?lol).
• violated major treaties it signed and thus undermined business confidence,
• antagonized the West while relying on Western funding, technology and markets for hydrocarbons
• when appointing officials, is now preferring political loyalty over technical expertise (but not as strongly as in the USSR though).lol

I can still remember seeing a Video with Putin explaining (in Fall 2014) why world oil prices cannot drop significantly below $85, and if they do, they should drag down the US dollar. lool As we know in 2015, both claims are patently false.

It's also interesting how Putin expresses respect for the King of Saudi Arabia, whereas his Foreign Minister Lavrov inadvertently called the Saudis idiots in the Summer 2015 while being recorded ("idiots" is a very forgiving translation).

You're correct Mike. Despite Western World helped Russia stand up on its feet after the decimation of the evil Soviet Union empire, they've been extremely ungrateful.

As soon as Russia saw light at the end of the tunnel, they took their chance and turned against Europe. Their supremacist culture/history is to blame for in my humble opinion, they want to be seen as a superpower, world leader, etc.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Again my Chinese friend, when were the Philippines, Georgia and Ukraine part of NATO?

You can't expect the US to protect everyone else (allies or not) same as NATO members. Everyone else has to pay like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, etc.

There's been no conflict within the NATO block since its inception, no one complains, no one is oppressed, all countries are fully developed and industrialised, so I don't know why you're trying to imply the US has treated or may treat other NATO member states unfairly.

Firstly I never mentioned NATO once, I simply mentioned American allies. Of which the Philippines mentioned above is a "mutual defense treaty" ally of the USA, whom they abandoned when China was seizing their territory in 2012.

Again, if a country chooses to follow the USA instead of having the capability to deter the USA (thermonuclear weapons and ICBM's) that is their own choice. But America is famous for backstabbing their own allies, everyone has seen the picture of Donald Rumsfeld and America's good friend Saddam Hussein.

So the question is, do you want to leave the fate of your entire nation in the hands of America. Even though they may turn around one day and threaten to bomb you into the stone age (again).

Or do you want to keep your fate in your own hands.

 

[Cyberian]

Firstly I never mentioned NATO once, I simply mentioned American allies. Of which the Philippines mentioned above is a "mutual defense treaty" ally of the USA, whom they abandoned when China was seizing their territory in 2012.

Again, if a country chooses to follow the USA instead of having the capability to deter the USA (thermonuclear weapons and ICBM's) that is their own choice. But America is famous for backstabbing their own allies, everyone has seen the picture of Donald Rumsfeld and America's good friend Saddam Hussein.

So the question is, do you want to leave the fate of your entire nation in the hands of America. Even though they may turn around one day and threaten to bomb you into the stone age (again).

Or do you want to keep your fate in your own hands.

This is what I'm trying to say that the countries who are fully integrated in the NATO block are all under US protection and there's no evidence to say that at any point the US has or will turn against them.

And yes, everyone outside NATO is everyone else. Their "alliance" with the US only lasts until it is within the US interests.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Do I need to start studying the Russian language

 

[Khan_patriot]

Do I need to start studying the Russian language

Depends on whether you plan on surviving a Russian invasion, I personally don't and would die fighting because I am too lazy to learn Russian anyways

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Economy comes first, military has no primary role on independence if you are economically integrated to the global capitalism to teeth and if your economy based on natural resources. Even more if the oil prices is not under your rule, you are no independent my friend. This is reality.

Well, if you got the military power of Russia, then you might have a chance to revive your Ottoman Empire.