Russia's had the past decade or so to build themselves up(without the US trying to contain them), and flex some muscle, case in point: Georgia. Now that we are winding down in Afghanistan, I wonder if the US plans on a force buildup in the AO, specifically SF, in an attempt to deter future Georgia like incidents...

I hope not. About time for Europeans to do that themselves and truth to tell, the Russians didn't do that well invading a contiguous state that was once itself.....and they have not 'built themselves up' they have let things 'go' in many respects...Russia is a Mafiacracy where the money goes in many directions.

Russia and China have one thing in common when it comes to their militaries - both are tough when defending their own 'hoods' but not so much when they venture out into somebody else's 'turf'...however, a brawl between them on the Sino-Soviet border is something I don't think any of us would want to see. MOO.

Richard :munchin

QP PRB,

Agreed, and I don't think we will see any overt military action from them for some time, however, they will probably continue to operate aggressively in a covert manner(think of the recent spy swap), and IMHO, SF presence in Europe acted as a (albeit small, but meaningful) deterrent to that as well. To clarify, the "build-up" I am thinking of is of men and material, not leadership and expertise, which, if history is any indicator, is enough for them as they will just throw as many bodies as possible at whatever offensive or defensive action they take. Then again, with their dwindling demographics in mind, maybe not...


QP Richard,
Agreed, but how much longer will China's raw materials hold out(that's if their economy doesn't collapse first)? And if their economy does collapse, in the words of PRB: "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

Don't forget- China acquired the rights to Afghanistan's undeveloped mineral rights... Raw materials shouldn't be an issue...

http://geography.about.com/od/obtain.../russiapop.htm

This article talks about Russia's population decline, all a mix of vodka, poor economy and abortion.

http://blog.euromonitor.com/2007/06/...opulation.html

Interesting, wasn't aware of that.
I chatted with an Exxon guy in Astan (plane ride from Kandahar to Kabul) and he said they do have petro deposits but that they are deep and the rock is very unstable and that make drilling extremely problematic....why no one has gone after it, it is not viable even with todays high prices.
I'm not sure about mineral deposits.

This gives a good idea of what they have and where it is...
http://thenewslink.com/Afghanistan-Mineral-Map.html

IIRC, Russia is wealthy in natural resources and very poor in good weather. The Ukraine was it's bread basket. The South part of the Crimea is as about on the same parallel of Salem Oregon. (45th)

It has great potential. Now if they can over come some internal issues. In some ways they are like still in the early 1900s. They have a lot of catching up to do.

QP mark46th,
I heard that some time back, thanks for the reminder, that is a good point.

HOLLiS,
I ate lunch today with a family that hails from Tajikistan, they left back in the late 80's and from what I understand, not much has changed there over the past 70 years there...

"USSR-Lite" Anyone?

Putin envisions a Eurasian Union:
http://news.yahoo.com/russias-putin-...084122179.html

Don't Forget BRIC
 

I doubt very much that China will invade Russia,

THE Brazil, Russia, India, China trading block is alive and well and growing and will be the world power broker in 30 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIC

Scimitar

I doubt their alliance will survive that long.

TR