>The US and Russia will never align. From a philosophical point of view, they share more with the US than they do with China. Confucianism is somewhat alien t

>The US and Russia will never align. From a philosophical point of view, they share more with the US than they do with China. Confucianism is somewhat alien to Western thinking. Russia shares some of the pillars of philosophy with the US (and EU). So I think it depends on how things shape out in the future. >The US is content to have two powerful foes to utilize for various purposes. Sadly, this is part of it. I think Putin wants a Détente with the US, but some factions (both Dem and Repub) are allergic to anything Russia due to distrust from the Cold War. >The Russians are intensely nationalistic and independent. They have a serious confrontation coming in the future with China. Russia is nationalistic, but maybe even more so is China. They two had military skirmishes in the 60s (Amur). This may happen again as China looks toward Siberia for expansion. On the other hand, Siberia is mostly uninhabitable unless you raze it and pave it, but the temp extremes are quite unique too.