[Youden]

Whatever Russia has done, I don't see it as a threat to the security of the world as a whole. Russia lacks the ability to project force around the world (e.g. it lacks aircraft carriers and a modern air force) and the EU's military spending alone is ~4x Russia's _before_ the Ruble collapsed.

The US however has an obscene amount of military power and has shown that it's happy to use it for a full-scale invasion of another country based on fabricated nonsense. I'm not aware of Russia doing anything remotely similar since its birth (where "birth" refers to the collapse of the USSR).

[JoBrad]

That's not exactly a fair comparison, since Russia hasn't had the funding to make any large-scale invasions since then. However they were more than happy to cut off oil to Europe just a few years ago, invade Ukraine, and generally act in a belligerent way toward several different countries in an effort to destabilize their neighbors.

[NicoJuicy]

And that is insanely stupid.

Russia doesn't profit from war, but by selling gas. They can't sell it with profit to Russians, so selling it to Europe is very important to them.

Ps. I've never noticed the cut off though ( Belgium) and wasn't aware. So I think it's not that big of a threat.

[JoBrad]

Indeed, Gazprom lost over $1 billion as a result of the shutdown.

I’m not really sure why I was downvoted before: the actions here targeted Ukraine, but impacted several countries in Europe. Perhaps someone disagrees with me, but that’s not sufficient for a downvote, as I understand it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Ukraine_gas_d...

http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/3307.cfm

[NicoJuicy]

I got downvoted too, some commie trolls probably.

If they don't give a reaction, I don't care ;)

[Youden]

> That's not exactly a fair comparison, since Russia hasn't had the funding to make any large-scale invasions since then

I don't understand how this makes the comparison unfair. Whatever the reason (e.g. lack of funding), Russia can't have quite the same impact in conventional warfare as the US.

> However they were more than happy to cut off oil to Europe just a few years ago, invade Ukraine, and generally act in a belligerent way toward several different countries in an effort to destabilize their neighbors.

The original article shows that the US is also happy to use various methods available to it to screw around with other countries. Unlike Russia, it's able to get away with it (perhaps due to its conventional military might).

[JoBrad]

The portion of your comment I disagreed with was here:

> I'm not aware of Russia doing anything remotely similar since its birth (where "birth" refers to the collapse of the USSR).

While I agree that Russia _cannot_ have the same impact, it’s not for lack of trying. The “unfair” part was comparing 243 years of history with 28. However even within the past few decades you seem to be ignorant of or ignore Russia’s actions in Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria; the violence Putin used to gain and hold power; killing Russian citizens who are political adversaries; and the active belligerence and aggression that Russian Intelligence has shown toward other countries, especially in the last few years.

None of this excuses aggressive behavior by any other country, but to say that Russia has been exemplary or that they’ve not engaged in horrific behavior as well is simply untrue.

[pm90]

All of Russia’s actions have been within its neighborhood, the parent is talking about force projection in places far away from your motherland. Not to say that it justifies Russian action.

Their involvement in Syria alone has stretched budgets. Whereas the US can and has fought multiple wars simultaneously in places far way from the homeland without being constrained by finances.

[GVIrish]

Russia's conventional forces are not on par with the United States and they can't project that power globally.

But Putin's Russia has shown willingness and ability to achieve their geopolitical goals using espionage, propaganda, and direct military aid to bad actors, particularly in the Middle East. Putin has assassinated people in multiple countries in Europe, and had a hand in disinformation/propaganda campaigns aimed at weakening NATO and weakening international rule of law. Putin is actively attempting to sow discord in Western governments for the benefit of his government.

The United States' military action has caused far more death and destruction to be sure. And with American politics getting more and more volatile, partisan, and irrational, it seems likely we'll see more unnecessary conflicts and foreign policy crises in the future. Not to mention all of the damage to the international order done by Trump.

But just because Russia is no longer a traditional military superpower, make no mistake, they are working actively to undermine Western hegemony using asymmetrical means.