Why Russia Matters Less than We Think

From Lionel Beehner, a journalist formerly with the Council on Foreign Relations, in the Huffington Post: Why do we suddenly care so much about Russia? Its economy is still smaller than Portugal’s, its nuclear stockpile is no match for our own (not to mention its Soviet-era early warning radars barely work), and its foreign ambitions, as George Kennan predicted generations ago, have been mostly contained. Plus, given its current demographic trends, some analysts predict Russia’s population could sink below 100 million by 2050, making it smaller than Mexico. Yet for some reason, Washington has worked itself into a lather worrying about Russia. It shouldn’t. Read the rest about why Russia is not a nuclear Wal-Mart, and why their growing relations with China and Iran may not be as worrying as some may think.