I largely agree with Skybird's opinion about Putin.
The oil & gas dollars are helping him to make Russia into an economic (semi) superpower, which will reflect in a more self assured posture in international policy and military affairs.
However these remarks puzzle me:
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Originally Posted by Skybird
Russia necessarily must feel surrounded, pushed back and strategically outplayed since NATO started it'S foolish attempt to push it's sphere of influence as far as directly to the Russian borders...
NATO's infantile "mine is longer than yours" attitude is not helpful. such confrontative style also makes it more and more diofficult to get Russian cooperation on issue like Iran - as if that divergence in interests isn't already difficult enough.
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If the Russians feels surrounded by NATO it's their problem. With the choice of a proper foreign policy that fear could be eliminated.
Contrary to this, the former Eastern Bloc countries felt a future threat from Russia after the break down of the Warsaw Pact. Countries like Polan, Hungary and the Czech Republic - for many years suppressed by Russian military might - requested to join NATO. How could the West has shown these countries, who at a certain time all resisted their occupation, the door with the argument that their former occupier might feel threatened?
It is in my view a historic necessety that these countries became part of a free Europe and share its economic
and military protection.
Putin will have to live with that reality...
As far as the remark:
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NATO's infantile "mine is longer than yours" attitude is not helpful
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It's not an argument, it's not substantiated and it says more about Skybirds view on NATO than about NATO's view on Russia.