[ansel12]

WWIII with who? The USSR and the Warsaw Pact of Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania?

Have you looked at what Russia is left with and where their troops are now stationed, and how their massive forces of attack forces of many Airbornes divisions and bridge building units are gone?

WWIII, with who, and why would Putin want to destroy himself and his population of 140 million and his active military of 750,000, in a suicidal gesture?

Are you off your head in your gulping in of Putin’s cheap shirtless imagery?

[sefarkas]

"Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy towards a more market-based and globally-integrated economy, but stalling as a partially reformed, statist economy with a high concentration of wealth in officials' hands. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. Russia is one of the world's leading producers of oil and natural gas and is also a top exporter of metals such as steel and primary aluminum. Russia's manufacturing sector is generally uncompetitive on world markets and is geared toward domestic consumption. Russia's reliance on commodity exports makes it vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the volatile swings in global prices. The economy, which had averaged 7% growth during 1998-2008 as oil prices rose rapidly, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. Slowly declining oil prices over the past few years and difficulty attracting foreign direct investment have contributed to a noticeable slowdown in GDP growth rates. In late 2013, the Russian Economic Development Ministry reduced its growth forecast through 2030 to an average of only 2.5% per year, down from its previous forecast of 4.0 to 4.2%. In 2014, following Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, prospects for economic growth declined further, with expectations that GDP growth could drop as low as zero."

Seven versus #1 and #2. EU may need energy, but someone has to make it profitable to take it out of the ground and ship it. Who needs whom more?

RANK	COUNTRY	GDP (PURCHASING POWER PARITY)	DATE OF INFORMATION
1	United States	$         16,720,000,000,000	2013 est.
2	European Union	$         15,850,000,000,000	2013 est.
3	China	$         13,390,000,000,000	2013 est.
4	India	$            4,990,000,000,000	2013 est.
5	Japan	$            4,729,000,000,000	2013 est.
6	Germany	$            3,227,000,000,000	2013 est.
7	Russia	$            2,553,000,000,000	2013 est.
8	Brazil	$            2,416,000,000,000	2013 est.
9	United Kingdom	$            2,387,000,000,000	2013 est.
10	France	$            2,276,000,000,000	2013 est.
11	Mexico	$            1,845,000,000,000	2013 est.
12	Italy	$            1,805,000,000,000	2013 est.
13	Korea, South	$            1,666,000,000,000	2013 est.
14	Canada	$            1,518,000,000,000	2013 est.
15	Spain	$            1,389,000,000,000	2013 est.
16	Indonesia	$            1,285,000,000,000	2013 est.
17	Turkey	$            1,167,000,000,000	2013 est.