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Originally Posted by Oberon
Not concerned, intrigued and interested in what Vlad is going to do next, but not wholly concerned. Vlad is not dumb, in fact, I'd go as far as to say he's one of the smartest world leaders out there at the moment, and he knows where the line is drawn and just how far he can push things.
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I hear ya Oberon. But I'm not so sure that Putin is very smart at all. The real threats he faces will come from the East, not the West. You can guarantee that. Russia's future problems will not come from us at all. As a matter of fact, we have shifted much of our emphasis from North Atlantic to the Western Pacific. Any guesses why? I wonder why Putin hasn't caught on yet. Inviting other nations into NATO and the USA's BMD is of no threat to Russia at all. Putin may fear that Russia may not be able to "influence" those former Eastern European countries who wish to join NATO. But where's the threat? Putin needs to understand this world is changing, and security agreements are changing. His failure to realize this will send Russia chasing after non-existent ghosts. Mr. Putin seems intent on sending a message that Russia is back, fine. But I don't think we gave him the response he wanted. That's why I asked the question in the first place to those in Europe. And so far, sure enough, just as I thought, not alot of concern. Only intrigue. We here in America pretty much yawned at this news. What if Russia makes this an annual event though? Will Europe become perturbed by that type of intrusive exercise? Couldn't the Russians conduct similar exercises in their home waters?