Ping
"The West's geostrategic objective is to weaken Russia, to prevent it from becoming a superpower again, and to turn it into a compliant donor. This is why Russia is being surrounded by security cordons and "hostile regimes" are being established around it. "So, there are all the elements of a conspiracy," Prokhanov said. "
I think they are missing he point. Russia is not being surrounded. If anything, the former Soviet Union is quietly expanding Westward as it sees the strategic impossibility of once again controlling vast sums of land to its east by use of military and political force.
Countries the former Soviet Union controlled in this fashion are now independent and understanding that Democracy and US policy is more conducive to their growth then regressive poilicies which caused the problem in the first place.
Peole shouldn't kid themselves. The Soviet Union isn't dead. It is just taking an introspective look at itself and realigning along more political and economic lines. The ideology exploits whatever it can for its ultimate purpose and without money you cannot survive.
This is why the EU was important. While believing that France and Germany would be at the forefront of the EU, both countries exhibit Socialist ideology which gives the Soviet Union the in to eventually take over those countries, by force if necessary. The US is out of the loop and realigning troops out of Germany was a major coup for Russia.
Will this happen next week? Of course not. But as I see it the groundwork is being quietly laid and this will happen and France and Germany will look to the US and Great Britian who will shrug and say, you need what?