[1rudeboy]

Defend themselves FROM WHAT?!? Western europe? LOL! Or were the Ukrainians/Georgians about to invade mother Russia? Or perhaps Russia is being harassed by the ultra aggressive Scandinavians?

Think of it as the Russian version of the Monroe Doctrine. ;)

My question to wetphoenix is, how far must Russia's borders expand before it finds a "buffering" [snort] country that does not have some sort of "foreign influence" acting upon it?

LOLOL--talk about word games.

[wetphoenix]

~Think of it as the Russian version of the Monroe Doctrine. ;)

My question to wetphoenix is, how far must Russia’s borders expand before it finds a “buffering” [snort] country that does not have some sort of “foreign influence” acting upon it?

LOLOL—talk about word games.~

What you have just described is actually an original Monroe Doctrine. It is actually about to keep any capable adversary out of Western hemisphere at all. I can understand a philosophy behind it and can’t see it as any wrong with it.

Russian doctrine doesn’t involve the whole Eastern hemisphere, but mostly immediate bordering country. So-called ‘buffer’ nation as you put it is not necessarily a ‘puppet’. The more independent the better because puppets are costly to support. Of course independent means it is not only independent from Russia but with any other capable adversary too.