The Russian Bear Awakens
Courtesy of Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse
Today most Americans consider the United States to be "the sole remaining superpower" – absolutely unparalleled economically and militarily. But the truth is not anything close to that. As we detailed in a previous article, China has become a very dominant economic and military superpower. But there is another world superpower that the American people and the American media are not taking seriously. The Russian Bear has awakened, and yet most people in the U.S. think of Russia as a Cold War opponent that we "defeated" and which is now a shell of its former self. The recent Russian spy case is a perfect example of the tremendous lack of respect which the American public has for Russia these days. It is almost as if the media is saying: "Oh look, isn’t it so cute that these little Russians are spying on us as if the Cold War was still going on?" But the truth is that it is a massive error to underestimate Russia. Today it is a fact that Russia is stronger both economically and militarily than it ever has been before.
You doubt this?
Quick – name the number one oil producer in the world.
Here’s a hint – it is not Saudi Arabia.
Russia has also recently become the number one oil exporter in the world.
Not only that, but Russia is also the number one exporter of natural gas in the world.
In a world starving for oil and natural resources, that puts Russia in a very strong position.
Back on December 28th, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was on hand to celebrate the opening of Russia’s first modern Pacific-based oil export facilities. The Pacific port of Kozmino now allows Russia to export huge amounts of oil to growing economies throughout Asia.
And to the United States.
Did you know that Russia is rapidly becoming one of the top suppliers of oil to the United States?
It’s true.
So is it smart for the U.S. to start becoming dependent on oil from Russia?
No, probably not.
But that is what is happening.
And the Russian economy is booming.
Russia experienced very high economic growth during the early part of the past decade, and analysts project Russia’s GDP will grow by more than 5% in 2010.
And most people think of Russian cities as crumbling, broken down cities where people stand in line for bread.
Not anymore.
According to Forbes, Moscow is now the third most expensive cities in the world in which to live. In fact, the cost of living is higher in Moscow than in any U.S. city.
Who would have thought that it costs more money to live in Moscow than in New York City?
But Russia has not just become an economic superpower once again.
Russia has also been using all of this new economic power to rapidly update and modernize both its conventional and strategic military forces….
*Over the last several years, Russia has been very busy updating and modernizing their strategic nuclear forces. U.S. officials still claim that America has a technological edge in this area, but everyone agrees that the gap is rapidly narrowing.
*On June 15th, Russia introduced their new "fourth generation" nuclear submarine to the world, which is apparently quieter than any other submarine in existence.
*Not only that, but a couple weeks ago Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin climbed into the cockpit of Russia’s new "fifth generation" fighter jet and announced that it was far superior to the F-22 Raptor.
And Russia is once again projecting their strength throughout the world. We all saw what they were able to achieve in Georgia. But they have been very busy elsewhere as well….
*Iran announced on Wednesday that the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a joint project with Russia, would be ready for operation in two months.
*Russia has signed major arms deals with Syria under which it will sell Syria warplanes, anti-tank weapons and air defense systems.
*After Russian President Medvedev’s historic visit to Damascus, Russia’s energy minister announced that his country is "studying the question" of building a nuclear power plant in Syria.
*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently announced that Russia and Turkey are becoming key strategic partners.
*The Russian government has agreed to a raft of new accords with the new, much more pro-Russian, government in Ukraine.
But still the United States is not taking Russia seriously.
According to Admiral James A. Winnefeld, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command, Russia is continuing to fly strategic nuclear bombers close to U.S. and Canadian airspace because the Russian military is seeking to maintain "the illusion of power".
The illusion of power?
Is he kidding?
It is this dramatic underestimation of Russia power that could end up seriously burning us in the end.
The truth is this lack of understanding of the world situation goes all the way to the top.
Barack Obama is pushing for a plan which would reduce the size of the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal to about 10 percent of what it was at the height of the Cold War.
Most Americans (and most people who will read this article) simply dismiss Russia as not being a significant threat, but that just shows how misinformed most people are.
And in many ways Russia is in a much better position right now than the United States is.
The Russian government actually ran large budget surpluses from 2001 to 2007 and has a very small national debt.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has accumulated the biggest debt in the history of the world.
In fact, Russia owns about 100 billion dollars of that debt.
My how the tables have turned.
The frightening thing is that Russia and China are cooperating on a host of economic and military projects as they seek to "counterbalance" U.S. power in the world.
The truth is that the U.S. cannot just "do whatever it wants" in the world anymore.
Russia and China are both more powerful than they have ever been before and they aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
The world has changed. If the United States does not wake up and recognize this fact there are going to be some very serious consequences.
