[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Originally Posted by Sea Demon

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?

From the Western perspective, until Russia gets a lot more of its strength back, indeed China and the Middle East is a higher priority than the North Atlantic.
To the Russians, it doesn't look that way. True, China may (probably "will") become a threat in the future, especially if they ever get that little island to their right back. But right now at least, they are partners buying their weapons and putting money into thet arms industry. Right now, the threat of NATO encroachment looks a heck of a lot closer. It is the United States putting an ABM station close to their territory, not China.

I wonder why Putin hasn't caught on yet.

Believe your goodwill? Right...

Will Europe become perturbed by that type of intrusive exercise? Couldn't the Russians conduct similar exercises in their home waters?

Ask America the same question, and you'll have a whole new perspective. America's national policy depends on doing "intrusive exercises" all over the world. They call it "Show of Force" or "Power Projection".