elfstone Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 6 minutes ago, jj3 said: But you can't say Russia has the same weight than S.Korea on the diplomatic and world relationship's chessboard No we cant. But its 'sphere of influence' is still vastly exaggerated. Thing is, a country has to be some sort of economic power to be able to exert any serious influence. This is how geopolitics works in this globalized economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cult Icon Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 The Russian security state is actually massive in terms of personnel (border guards, paramilitary, reservists). IT is more accurate to compare defense expenditures, which put Russia up higher. Given costs and the nature of russian military art, just googling' a number and comparing it to the USA (with its very expensive and wasteful military, democratic weaknesses, reliance on attrition/firepower/equipment) just to extrapolate a capability is blatantly wrong. The Red Army had a fraction of the military expenditure compared to the Western Allies in Europe in 1944/1945 but had more combat value overall. Same thing in the cold war, where American, British, and German forces knew that the Warsaw Pact could blitz them conventionally at any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj3 Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 15 minutes ago, elfstone said: No we cant. But its 'sphere of influence' is still vastly exaggerated. Thing is, a country has to be some sort of economic power to be able to exert any serious influence. This is how geopolitics works in this globalized economy. I see we don't have the same vision then I think, Russian (soviet) power never has been primordially based on its enconomic power. I don't know how you can say that nowadays Russia sphere of influence is not HUGE. This country spread its influence from Central Europe to Deep Extrem Asia ... It's strategic IMO to feed a good, respectable relationship with them regarding this points. Plus, France is one of the FEW country in the world who feed a so long relationship and Alliance at time in the History with it. We should continue to take advantage of it IMO. The Hollande Era has been so lame diplomatically that Macron can only do better. And the meet of today in Versailles is another good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cult Icon Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 8 minutes ago, elfstone said: No we cant. But its 'sphere of influence' is still vastly exaggerated. Thing is, a country has to be some sort of economic power to be able to exert any serious influence. This is how geopolitics works in this globalized economy. Russia is basically an energy and security state (Gazprom, etc). It has always had an unbalanced economy and weak consumer sector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfstone Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 14 minutes ago, Cult Icon said: The Russian security state is actually massive in terms of personnel (border guards, paramilitary, reservists). IT is more accurate to compare defense expenditures, which put Russia up higher. Given costs and the nature of russian military art, just googling' a number and comparing it to the USA (with its very expensive and wasteful military, democratic weaknesses, reliance on attrition/firepower/equipment) just to extrapolate a capability is blatantly wrong. The Red Army had a fraction of the military expenditure compared to the Western Allies in Europe in 1944/1945 but had more combat value overall. Same thing in the cold war, where American, British, and German forces knew that the Warsaw Pact could blitz them conventionally at any time. What good is all that military might when their enemies can seriously hurt them by imposing economic sanctions? Military power by itself is a poor guaranteer of political stabliity. Otherwise Gorbachev wouldnt have dissolved the Soviet Union Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchkiki Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 17 hours ago, Cult Icon said: christy, clean is a weird/inappropriate adjective to describe a person Not dirty enough? "clean" as he looks like he is ready to school after mommy kissed him on the top of the head. Yes, Mr clean is too clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfstone Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SympathysSilhouette Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 Odd how jokes about the destruction of Western Europe are less funny when you live in Western Europe yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfstone Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 5 hours ago, jj3 said: I see we don't have the same vision then I think, Russian (soviet) power never has been primordially based on its enconomic power. I don't know how you can say that nowadays Russia sphere of influence is not HUGE. This country spread its influence from Central Europe to Deep Extrem Asia ... It's strategic IMO to feed a good, respectable relationship with them regarding this points. Plus, France is one of the FEW country in the world who feed a so long relationship and Alliance at time in the History with it. We should continue to take advantage of it IMO. The Hollande Era has been so lame diplomatically that Macron can only do better. And the meet of today in Versailles is another good sign Russia is not a major threat to the West, but nor is it a global superpower. I'll reiterate, their so called sphere of influence is nothing more than a myth. Dont wanna get pedantic and throw stats so I'll let this guy show you the extent of Russian power. listen to what he's saying for the next 5 min Their sphere of influence is insignificant because they are economically weak. SO whenever there is a serious conflict of interest between Russia and the west, the latter almost inevitably seek to punish them through economic sanctions. Russia do have a strong military +nukes though, so bombing them is out of the question. If they werent so, the west would have wiped them out long ago like it did Iraq, Libya. China is a real superpower btw. With their 12 trillion dollar economy and military might, they can neither be economically sanctioned nor militarily engaged without catastrophic consequences for the western powers themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj3 Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 4 minutes ago, elfstone said: China is a real superpower btw. With their 12 trillion dollar economy and military might, they can neither be economically sanctioned nor militarily engaged without catastrophic consequences for the western powers themselves IMO, China never showed anything so far. We'll see in the futur ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prettyphile Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 Coolie is this threads poster child. If you've ever wanted to know what is NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT - look no further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Luna* Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 10 hours ago, SympathysSilhouette said: Odd how jokes about the destruction of Western Europe are less funny when you live in Western Europe yourself. Why is that odd? It makes perfect sense to me. I don't think anyone living anywhere likes the idea of that place, wherever it may be, being destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SympathysSilhouette Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 1 hour ago, *Luna* said: Why is that odd? It makes perfect sense to me. I don't think anyone living anywhere likes the idea of that place, wherever it may be, being destroyed. I was being sarcastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17 Moments of Spring Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 On 2017. 05. 29. at 4:30 PM, SympathysSilhouette said: The same Milo Yiannopoulus who defends pedophilia. The right has a weird preference in its heroes. He's still better than the cultural left, which defends killing babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cult Icon Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 On 5/29/2017 at 11:50 AM, frenchkiki said: Not dirty enough? "clean" as he looks like he is ready to school after mommy kissed him on the top of the head. Yes, Mr clean is too clean beautiful Christy, Maybe you mean "clean-cut". I've never heard of anybody use clean in that way outside of Tanya82 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVAdrianaLima Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 12 minutes ago, 17 Moments of Spring said: He's still better than the cultural left, which defends killing babies. To be fair, no one "defends" killing babies You're a tad sick in the head making such a comment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17 Moments of Spring Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 4 minutes ago, ILUVAdrianaLima said: To be fair, no one "defends" killing babies You're a tad sick in the head making such a comment! There's an adage: "if the shirt is not yours, don't put it on". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkCouture Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Not that I am a Milo fan or anything but the way some people deal with him is quite hypocritical and uncalled for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVAdrianaLima Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Well, Milo got what was coming to him so all is well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkCouture Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 (edited) 5 minutes ago, ILUVAdrianaLima said: Well, Milo got what was coming to him so all is well I can't say I disagree with that There are people out there who bashes him when they are far from being saints. In fact some are just as "bad" or even worse than him Just be clear I am not referring to anyone here Edited May 30, 2017 by PinkCouture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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