Why do you use words like "defeat"? Are we gonna take Russia over? Are we gonna oust Putin go nation building on the worlds largest land mass? I'm not sure which US doctrine you're reading, or where you saw the words "must defeat Russia"
Sorry wuf, I think you and I land on the same side of most of these arguments but you sound like you've been listening to too much MSNBC on this one.
Russia exists. And that is how it's going to be unless we decide to start lobbing bombs over there and hopefully kill all of their guys before they kill all of our guys. Unless that happens, Russia exists, and that's a reality we have to deal with.
Geopolitical power is a zero sum game. If Russia is to be weakened, then the US must become stronger. When Russia blasts its way into Ukraine, the US should be able to institute economic sanctions that destroy the Ruble. We didn't do that because our own economy wasn't strong enough to work through the lost business with Russia. We looked weak. That's what people mean when they call Obama's foreign policy "feckless"
So the best thing we can do to "combat" Russia (if we really wanna use that word) is to start spewing GDP. The stronger and healthier our economy is, the more power we have globally. If we can't afford to stand up to Russia and China with sanctions, we lose. If our jobs and industries go overseas, then other countries have more money, and we have less. Money is what gives us leverage with the UN. We currently provide more than 20% of their budget. It will be really tough to get what we want if they can get the money somewhere else. And it will be really easy to get the money somewhere else, when we gave all of ours away.
It's all tied back to the economy. Or more simply: money. Money talks, and bullshit walks. 8 years of obama has left us with stagnant job growth, abysmal workforce participation, stale wages, and disgusting GDP.
I think folks need to wake up and realize that the only reason that Russia appears more aggressive as of late, is because the US has allowed itself to become so much weaker.
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Originally Posted by BananaStand
