I've always wondered myself how Russia managed to vanish so quickly from the radar screen. Doesn't mean that the IQ's have dropped in here. Maybe on the Afghanistan board, but not generally elsewhere. The problem with Russia since the end of the Cold War has been the transition to a market economy, and the fact that a disproportionate amount of her population broke away with the splintering of the USSR (Russia as a country is still many times bigger than all of the other former satellites combined, but the same cannot be said for her population). If you're actually Russian, I did have one thing I wanted to ask someone who's actually over there: what do the Russian people at large think of the U.S. withdrawal from the ABM treaty, and the fact that now Bush wants to store the 5000 warheads he previously hinted were going to be completely disarmed? --Phoenix Rising

They have much potential, but their big stumbling blocks is the widespread corruption in the Govt. and the widespread influence of their criminal gangs. If they can overcome these two obstacles the rest is downhill.

Ike correctly mentions the big stumbling blocks that Russia has. One fact is not being mentioned is that Russia's demographics are decending to that of an African country. George Will in 2000 wrote an excellent article on how in 20 years that Russia may render itself impotent due to the fact that many of it's men are dying at such a young age because of self destructive behavior. It was just because of prudery that Gorbachev tried to rein in drinking. I am a great deal more pessimistic about Russia than the earlier posts. Putin may end up being another Peter the Great which would be a good thing for the world. If he is lesser than that then don't hold much hope for this weak reed. The intellegencia is getting smaller and smaller and many of them are leaving.

Putin seems to the guy that wants to do damage control for a leaky ship rather than someone who wants to chart a farsighted course. My optimism comes from the fact that there are a lot resources both human and economic that are slowly but surely being tapped. Once the economy is stablized (seems to be getting there-slowly) and the revamped infrastructure takes hold is when the country will take off. There seems to be 5-10 years of economic/power downsizing/humiliation ahead. Crime and underemployment etc. The good news is the upcoming generation may be very comfortable with living in a non-totalitarian state. Solid work seems to be getting done to getting a meaningful economic foundation re-built that should expand. Sure things can look bleak because bad news travels fast. The USSR was a comfortable opponent for us. The US and russia seem to cut each other some slack due to memories of the good old days. -Hey, it's a new century. Oh and sorry for the length of the post.

My stupid remark was my way of tossing a bomb into the fishtank. Generally not my style. I don't know why you thought I was Russian-outide of my obvious Russofillic (eh?) comments. As to the ABM-last I heard it was quietly agreed to be a don't ask, don't tell dealie. In other words, we can test military appliances to our heart's content. The devil is in the imlementation. The problem is (as said by someone else) that once SDI was 'institutionalized', we couldn't get rid of it. The Pork is probably still spread around and keeping folks employed. The other goof was the new 'unilateral' US forign policy. This shook up both Russia and other nations as well. It died a quick death and treaty busting seems to be on the back burner. As goes Armaggeddon antics, no one is worried about the grown ups going Postal. THe fear of choice now is worrying about the kids finding the nuke in the bedside table. ...another wordy post, sorry all of that nuclear weapons/theory and (thank God non-practice) was a facination for me for decades.