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You're right, Putin shouldn't stand by idly as America builds a missile shield around Russia to negate their ability to launch nukes... We already have a deter

You're right, Putin shouldn't stand by idly as America builds a missile shield around Russia to negate their ability to launch nukes... We already have a deterrent for war with Russia. Russia knows this, I think the US is forgetting it.

qaq 10y ago
A lot of countries forget a lot of things US & other major nuclear powers conveniently forgot how they negotiated Ukraine to surrender worlds 3d largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for "security guarantees". US is acting prudently in building up missile shield around Russia since in the event of russia collapse who knows what will happen to their nuclear weapons.
- rangibaby 10y ago
  There was worry with the collapse of the USSR that Russian nukes would be donated to terrorists. It was a very common theme in 90s fiction. It ended up not happening at all, in fact the only major nuclear proliferation since then has been from Pakistan to North Korea, which is not mentioned by the western media because Pakistan is a very important ally against the Soviets. Wait...
  - qaq 10y ago
    The worry was more then reasonable the lucky outcome of worst scenario not materializing is not an evidence that there was no risk.
- greendragon 10y ago
  I don't even think a missile shield is necessarily bad, but it is a little troubling to see the attitude of taking offense that Russia just doesn't do what it's told. Forgetting Russia is a superpower too. Should other countries have a plan in case of USA collapse? At least our codes got upgraded from a string of 0s... But I imagine there are some foreign officials worried. Russia has started calling America "not-agreement-capable" after recent events in Syria and a UNSC meeting.
  - qaq 10y ago
    Russia is not a super power and to be honest I am not totally sure even USSR ever was.
    - greendragon 10y ago
      How are you defining a superpower such that Russia is not a member and maybe the USSR wasn't one?
      - qaq 10y ago
        I don't have a good definition but their ability to project power is/was greatly exaggerated.
  - int_19h 10y ago
    Russia can do whatever it wants in its jurisdiction. But it cannot be allowed to dictate the bilateral terms between other countries. If Ukraine or Poland wants to be in NATO, it's not up to Russia to say "no". Especially given the histories of those countries, and Russia's role therein. And that's basically what that "OMG NATO is surrounding Russia" thing boils down to.
    - icebraining 10y ago
      "it's not up to Russia" It is if they have the power to stop it. The whole "moral justification" part is for plebes like us. If powers feel threatened by the movements of other powers in neighboring countries, they will act[1]. How they spin it to the public is secondary. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis#Quarantine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis#Quarantin...
      - qaq 10y ago
        Sure but it didn't get them very far
      - int_19h 10y ago
- powertower 10y ago
  Ukraine never had nuclear weapons. Those where Russian nukes stationed in the regions of Ukraine. The Kremlin had operational control of all nukes pre and post the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There was no negotiations required to get them back except for a procedural "note of record". They would have been taken by force if necessary.
  - qaq 10y ago
    Have fun with your powertrip Russia was one of the republics of USSR, so far Russia has one success story in taking something by force and most likely it will play out very similar to the fate of USSR.
    - addicted 10y ago
      One would have thought that the Russians would know this better than anybody after the USSR's collapse but military might is meaningless if you don't have the economic might to back it up. Russia is little more than a petro state whose economic fortunes are almost completely related to the price of oil. Putin should be focusing on broadening the Russian economic base but is instead engaging in stupid military endeavors that are only kidding Russia friends. The EU would love to trade with Russia but his European tinkering had made it impossible for them to do so. The US is obviously not a fan. Give it a few years and he'll probably piss off China too (or they'll find the US and European relationships more useful) and the Ryssians will have little more to do than reminisce about the time they annexed Crimea.
      - qaq 10y ago
        Well as things stand now Russia's GDP is less than GDP of NYC :) So how they still believe they can be a super power is beyond me.China is far from being Russia's ally they are using the current situation to take over Russia's resources and make Russia extremely dependent. It looks like the end game is peaceful return of the territories that Russia annexed from China or installation of puppet government at some point.
        10y ago

qaq 10y ago

A lot of countries forget a lot of things US & other major nuclear powers conveniently forgot how they negotiated Ukraine to surrender worlds 3d largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for "security guarantees". US is acting prudently in building up missile shield around Russia since in the event of russia collapse who knows what will happen to their nuclear weapons.

rangibaby 10y ago
There was worry with the collapse of the USSR that Russian nukes would be donated to terrorists. It was a very common theme in 90s fiction. It ended up not happening at all, in fact the only major nuclear proliferation since then has been from Pakistan to North Korea, which is not mentioned by the western media because Pakistan is a very important ally against the Soviets. Wait...
- qaq 10y ago
  The worry was more then reasonable the lucky outcome of worst scenario not materializing is not an evidence that there was no risk.
greendragon 10y ago
I don't even think a missile shield is necessarily bad, but it is a little troubling to see the attitude of taking offense that Russia just doesn't do what it's told. Forgetting Russia is a superpower too. Should other countries have a plan in case of USA collapse? At least our codes got upgraded from a string of 0s... But I imagine there are some foreign officials worried. Russia has started calling America "not-agreement-capable" after recent events in Syria and a UNSC meeting.
- qaq 10y ago
  Russia is not a super power and to be honest I am not totally sure even USSR ever was.
  - greendragon 10y ago
    How are you defining a superpower such that Russia is not a member and maybe the USSR wasn't one?
    - qaq 10y ago
      I don't have a good definition but their ability to project power is/was greatly exaggerated.
- int_19h 10y ago
  Russia can do whatever it wants in its jurisdiction. But it cannot be allowed to dictate the bilateral terms between other countries. If Ukraine or Poland wants to be in NATO, it's not up to Russia to say "no". Especially given the histories of those countries, and Russia's role therein. And that's basically what that "OMG NATO is surrounding Russia" thing boils down to.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    "it's not up to Russia" It is if they have the power to stop it. The whole "moral justification" part is for plebes like us. If powers feel threatened by the movements of other powers in neighboring countries, they will act[1]. How they spin it to the public is secondary. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis#Quarantine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis#Quarantin...
    - qaq 10y ago
      Sure but it didn't get them very far
    - int_19h 10y ago
powertower 10y ago
Ukraine never had nuclear weapons. Those where Russian nukes stationed in the regions of Ukraine. The Kremlin had operational control of all nukes pre and post the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There was no negotiations required to get them back except for a procedural "note of record". They would have been taken by force if necessary.
- qaq 10y ago
  Have fun with your powertrip Russia was one of the republics of USSR, so far Russia has one success story in taking something by force and most likely it will play out very similar to the fate of USSR.
  - addicted 10y ago
    One would have thought that the Russians would know this better than anybody after the USSR's collapse but military might is meaningless if you don't have the economic might to back it up. Russia is little more than a petro state whose economic fortunes are almost completely related to the price of oil. Putin should be focusing on broadening the Russian economic base but is instead engaging in stupid military endeavors that are only kidding Russia friends. The EU would love to trade with Russia but his European tinkering had made it impossible for them to do so. The US is obviously not a fan. Give it a few years and he'll probably piss off China too (or they'll find the US and European relationships more useful) and the Ryssians will have little more to do than reminisce about the time they annexed Crimea.
    - qaq 10y ago
      Well as things stand now Russia's GDP is less than GDP of NYC :) So how they still believe they can be a super power is beyond me.China is far from being Russia's ally they are using the current situation to take over Russia's resources and make Russia extremely dependent. It looks like the end game is peaceful return of the territories that Russia annexed from China or installation of puppet government at some point.
      - 10y ago