Is Russia a Superpower (again?)

edition.cnn.com...

CNN suggests that Russia is a superpower once again. Yet I read many critics arguing that Russia isn't (or even never was) a superpower.
What are the arguments for and against?

The world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, and the ability to deliver them anywhere on the planet in 30m minutes or less?

Superpower, no doubt.

You see a lot of people on here going off about how the Russians are broke, etc... guess what kids, it's not 1995 anymore...

With the huge oil reserves that Puten has tapped, and the weapons that remain from the cold war, Ohhhhh yea Russia is a super Power. Only the USSR is gone, the Communist Party still remains, and the people are turning to its alluring power again. Keep a watchfully eye on Mother Russia as she will rise again stronger than before.

You bet Russia is a Superpower was announced in 2006 at the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, the US is no longer the sole Superpower anymore, it is 2 nations, Russia and the United States.

Russia is a superpower because 1 they have the world's largest nuclear weapon arsenal which10 times greater than the US, Russia's economy is stronger than the US, BBC news reported this recently. Third they are an energy super giant and their military has been continuing to update in all forces of the 21 century weapons compared to the US and they have every domain of power in ideological, diplomatic and technological fronts. Russia is a superpower because they have the economics, the wealth, the diplomatic power, ideological, technological advances than any other country besides the US, they have the cultural sector and lets not forget their military levels (supreme). The US is on the mist of a recession and several the US government agencies such as NASA are going bankrupt. Russia is on the raise and I main raise, the country is becoming super rich and now are being placed at the 5th fastest growing country in the world. This is many reasons, the US has announced this several times and new agencies such as CNN news, Russia is a Superpower but the USA is still the leader but no longer the sole superpower, it is now 2 Superpowers; Russia and the USA. Russia is expected to suppress the US Superpower status by 2012 as the new leader Superpower. Now the US leads but that will change as Russia will over take the US on the US’s military budget in less than 8 years because the US is being heavily outsourced from foreign countries and is losing it’s in fracture on a poor economy,

Washington Acknowledges Russia as Superpower
www.kommersant.com...

Also Russia is an energy super giant of the world as well.
Russia Super energy power
www.thefirstpost.co.uk...

edition.cnn.com...
www.russiaprofile.org...
www.strategypage.com...

www.warpeace.org...
www.russophile.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink">russophile.com/russia_blog

Washington Acknowledges Russia as Superpower
www.kommersant.com...
bhtimes.blogspot.com...

www.spacewar.com...
www.spacewar.com...

Russia Dangerous Superpower (??)
www.cambridge.org...

A Former Superpower Rises Again
www.spiegel.de...

www.spiegel.de...

Inside Story: Back to the USSR. Putin's superpower goal
Russia Superpower Oct 19, 2007 9:39
www.jpost.com...

Russia as a Newborn Superpower
www.weltpolitik.net...:%20Putin %20as%20the%20Lord%20of%20Oil%20and%20Gas.html

Russia: A superpower rises again
POSTED: 1203 GMT (2003 HKT), December 13, 2006
Says Russia was always a Superpower
edition.cnn.com...


www.beliefnet.com...

Does Europe Need Protection?
Two superpowers between Russia and USA over missile shield to Iran
mnweekly.ru...

Russia on the march - again
By Con Coughlin
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 13/04/2007
www.telegraph.co.uk.../opinion/2007/04/13/do1303.xml

Russia - Economic Superpower
lightworker.com...

In the playground of the superpowers
By Harun Karcic
www.atimes.com...


Russia, an obstinate super power
www.martinfrost.ws...

Condoleezza Rice Worries About Russia’s “Assertive Military”
By: Nicole Belle on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 9:46 AM - PDT
www.crooksandliars.com...


The Return of Russia as a Superpower
current event by VnutZ79 on 13 September 2007, tagged as worldaffairs, politics, and military
www.omninerd.com...


Russia: Rebranding The Nation
Russian flag planted at the South Pole symbolizes the restoration of Russia's superpower status
www.rferl.org...

Russian strategic bombers are resuming regular patrols (superpower confrontation)
www.america-russia.net...


If any of you heard the News on CoasttoCoast radio last month with George Noory, NASA is going bankrupt and does not have the funds to complete the International Space Station as Russia was suppose to complete 40% of the station as they are planning their moon space station for 2015 on top of that. They may either need to help the complete the station or the station will go into limbo without the Russian’s to fix the US contract to finish it. The US Space shuttle is an outdated program that even the X-43 program went bankrupt and the US shuttle is just too expensive. A shuttle that takes a crew of 5 people to operate where the Russia space shuttle can fly unmanned and also dismantle its wings in space and attaching into the space station as a counterpart to the station. The Russians have flow more manned space missions that the numbers are impossible to beat that even the current Soyuz rocket has an 95% prefect record (has flown more than 520 missions). I just find it interesting when Russia was in the down in the 90’s but they still preformed their space missions and building nuclear arsenals but now they regained their superpower status again officially when it is expensive to improve military capability and continue space flights, how did they do it?

Is the Space Station a Money Pit? Russia to for fill Space Station completion contract for US
www.time.com...

NASA a ticking collapse
www.coasttocoastam.com...

Russia proposes manned Mars mission by 2015, Russian Mars mission set
www.newscientist.com...

The US is on an economic plunge as many of us can admit this, not just housing, high gas prices and bad inflation rates but our country is falling where Russia is greatly improving. You see our problems with immigrations and corporations continuing to outsource for cheaper labor overseas because the US labor is too expensive, we can’t even afford to fix our immigration problems not just the borders but the internal problems. What is unique about Russia is they don’t have an immigration problem at all, everyone who is not a Russian citizen has to have an entry visa, everyone and anything. The US is broken in so many ways it is just a complete joke.

I also wanted to state Russia is completely debt free as they cleared all their past deficits
english.pravda.ru...


(shortened link)

[edit on 26-12-2007 by Jbird]

There is no doubt that Russia is a super power! Since the fall of the iron curtain Russia has slowly rebuilt itself, under Putin Russia has become fairly formidable. Interestingly enough I only recently read an essay on Russia growing power and how they are now refered to as the "sleeping bear". The worrying aspect of Russias regained status as a world giant is it's distrust and disillusionment with the USA. Deep seeded contempt for America has risen from the way the Russian were treated after the curtain collapsed. With the Clinton government dishing out policies deemed healthy for Russia it seemed Yeltsin and many many Russians grew tired of being told what to do by the then world super power the USA. One could only imagine Prime Minister Putin sitting back soaking it all up, no wonder he went on to lead with an iron fist, refusing any imput from foriegn leaders. When this "sleeping bear" wakes up we could be in for a nasty surprise!

reply to post by TheOracle


I think the term super power in general is misused. Russia is a major player in the world stage and it's movements should be watched carefully. I personally believe that several lapses in judgement since the end of the cold war have lead to an environment favoring Russia in many ways. We can see them posturing for more political and military footholds. The USA is a major power but it tends to underestimate it's enemies, and lacks a pool of gifted minds from within it's borders from which to pick from. Which can be a detriment to maintaining a technological edge. Russia has had alot of quiet years to misdirect American intelligence agencies. They are researching technologies we've pioneered, solely for the purpose of maintaining the balance of power or slightly tilting it in their favor. Russia and the USA have always been rivals, to deny the power of either country is stupid and extremely naive. The country to watch right now is China. They are on a major military build up and are also posturing for more economic control. It's a trifecta of a bungling power struggle that will either destroy us, or hinder our progress significantly. There is just alot to look at here. But I believe people should take into account all the money Russia and China have dumped into counter American measures.

Just a little food for the brain.



[edit on 16-2-2008 by projectvxn]