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Originally Posted by Panther Al
Another interesting tidbit regarding how Europe is reacting to the New Russian Empire:
Finland *and* Sweden have quietly began talking to us - and NATO of course - about seeing if there is a spot in NATO for them as well.
Which speaks volumes when you consider how hard they tried to stay more or less - usually less - neutral during the first Cold War.
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That's not surprising at all, they might know a thing or two that we don't....or, more likely, just like the other European countries like Poland and Germany, they've seen this movie before and they're in no rush to see the sequel, like you said.
Thing is, the other NATO countries have been letting things slide militarily for too long and have slashed most of their defense budgets almost to a minimum, I'd argue that a lot of NATO's military are currently almost reduced to palace guards in terms of any capability, look at all the trouble they've had just to sustain operations in Afghanistan, much less Libya and the rest of Africa.
And we haven't even yet discussed further defense cuts the Obama administration was proposing in the U.S. prior to this. Methinks, or rather I hope, they'll be taking a second look at things now that Russia's back, but Obama was just recently quoted as saying Russia was "weak" and a "regional power, not a global power". Uh, sorry, but someone's in serious denial here. Having global nuclear reach for starters, along with a rejuvenated military that's been getting rapidly modernized, and an economy that basically can hold Europe by the balls by being it's primary source of petroleum and gas speaks volumes, and I would think elevates it a bit above "regional power" status.
Point is, Europe, other than the usual rumblings in parts like the Balkans, did seem to finally settle down for a while, but now their history is coming back to bite them in the ass again, this time with the "new" Russian empire. The vacation is over.