Posted on 06/22/2016 9:54:15 AM PDT by NRx
Russia is not the country you think it is. Its economy is smaller than South Korea’s. Its people are poorer than Kazakhstan’s. It trails Finland in technology. And it has a smaller military budget than Saudi Arabia...
...Russia hosted the Olympics, punched Georgia in the nose, took back the Crimea, invaded Ukraine, flew bombers through NATO airspace, built military bases in the Arctic, and generally flexed and posed like an oiled, aged, but still buff, body builder. And we’ve been paying increasingly rapt attention, not noticing the geriatric walker hidden just off stage. A closer look is almost shocking.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s most recent data, the Russian economy is approximately the same size as Australia and slightly smaller than South Korea. As an exporter, it is now less important than Belgium, Mexico, and Singapore.
And it is poor. The World Bank ranks Russia’s GDP per capita below Lithuania, Equatorial Guinea, and Kazakhstan. A larger proportion of its population lives below the poverty rate than in Indonesia, India, or Sri Lanka. It is ranked 67th in the world in the Global Competitive Index and 66th in the UN’s Human Development Index.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
oh nooo,
Putin says he is going to remake the Russian Military to be bigger, stronger, more potent than ever.
Course he has NO way to pay for any of it. Snicker.
Russian export in 2012 was $524,564,991,000.
Top ten breakdown:
Mineral fuels including oil: $375,423,947,000 (71.6% of total exports)
Iron and steel: $22,601,664,000 (4.3%)
Fertilizers: $11,176,846,000 (2.1%)
Inorganic chemicals: $7,835,699,000 (1.5%)
Machinery: $7,609,061,000 (1.5%)
Aluminum: $7,281,329,000 (1.4%)
Wood: $6,731,569,000 (1.3%)
Cereals: $6,246,547,000 (1.2%)
Copper: $5,787,339,000 (1.1%)
Organic chemicals: $4,516,890,000 (0.9%)
http://www.worldstopexports.com/russias-top-10-exports/2350
This is a typical third world export mix heavily dependent on raw materials.
Compare this to South Korea with a total export of $548.8 billion in 2012 (i.e. larger than Russia)
Top ten breakdown:
Electronic equipment: $119,084,386,000 (21.7% of total exports)
Vehicles: $70,074,094,000 (12.8%)
Machinery: $58,979,883,000 (10.8%)
Mineral fuels including oil: $57,492,603,000 (10.5%)
Ships, boats and other floating structures: $37,828,429,000 (6.9%)
Optical, technical and medical apparatus: $37,611,611,000 (6.9%)
Plastics: $28,381,150,000 (5.2%)
Iron and steel: $25,375,017,000 (4.6%)
Organic chemicals: $23,284,736,000 (4.3%)
Iron or steel products: $12,467,431,000 (2.3%)
http://www.worldstopexports.com/south-koreas-top-10-exports/2302
The Russians do not know(?) that their export, without the raw materials, is only in the order of $50 billion !
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3136939/posts?page=23#23
That was a few years ago, the present figures for Russia is even worse.
Right, the same thing goes when they ship advanced fighters and build Kalishnikov factories in Venezuela. Russia has been, is, and for some time will be our enemy.
China concerns me a lot more than Russia.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The second the US attacks Russia(Syria), the Chinese attack the US.
The US can’t attack and win against either country, and they sure can’t simultaneously fight both.
It is very depressing, especially in the countryside.
South Korean GDP per capita: $25,977
Russian GDP per capita: $14,612
US GDP per capita: $53,042
See the list.
No, but their willingness to take out the trash is commendable.
By comparison, the Obama Regime is utterly worthless.
Supposedly, Zero didn't want to bomb ISIS's oil convoys because the fires would contribute to global warming. That's pathetic enough. But the actual reason was that disrupting ISIS's oil exports would dent the income of his buddy Erdoğan the Turkish sand nazi.
Consider the source. The Globe is one that published propaganda which would have us believe that the military itself (as well as everything from child discipline to traditional morality) is hardly necessary.
Really?
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime negotiated deals with the Islamic State’s oil tycoon that at one point contributed up to 72% of the militant group’s profit from natural resources,
http://www.businessinsider.com/assad-oil-isis-2016-4?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
http://www.newsweek.com/isis-oil-deals-assad-regime-revealed-us-special-forces-raid-452426
When considering just total spending for 2014, the U.S. spent more on its military than the next 10 countries combined (2015 was similar). However, when compared to the gross domestic product, or GDP, the U.S. was only #4 in military spending for 2014.[1][4] Below we look at official government spending on military, private contracts, the military industrial complex and Eisenhower, Citizens United, all the jobs created by the military and other benefits, and a host of other related topics that put America’s military spending in perspective. http://factmyth.com/factoids/us-spends-more-on-military-than-any-country/
At 4% of GDP U.S. spending on defense is tied for 8th world wide. And in a historical context it is far below average. Throughout the 1960s the U.S. spent almost 9% of GDP on defense and even during President Ronald Reagan’s defense build up, military spending topped out at 6%. Considering that the U.S. is actively fighting two wars, if anything this amount is too low. Heritage fellow Mackenzie Eaglen details how President Barack Obama’s most recent budget proposals fail to protect the core defense budget here. http://dailysignal.com/2010/04/05/how-does-u-s-defense-spending-compare-with-other-countries/
““CIA World Factbook, “
There’s your problem. Not a reliable source.”
Could you tell where did YOU get your figures before blaming others for using an extensive legit source such as the World Factbook.
“extensive legit source such as the World Factbook.”
You wouldn’t know a fact If it bit you in the ass.
So, what is your source? cmon genius, show your source.
Recently, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate. This vital legislation puts American resources towards promoting an independent press in countries that are vulnerable to foreign disinformation, supporting students and community leaders “from populations and countries deemed vulnerable to foreign propaganda and disinformation campaigns.”
http://libertygeorgia.stfi.re/campaigns/counter-foreign-government-influence-act/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/2692/text
I have no doubt of that.
However, I DOUBT that they all "work" as "maintenance" is very expensive. People often put it off...."deferred maintenance," is, I think, the term.
:o) GOOD one.
If that were so then the USSR would have gone to the moon first. Oh, I forgot, they never did get to the moon.
But WE did.
Oh that's right, we did it TWICE.
.
.
No, I forgot. We did it THREE times.
The King of Saudi Arabia has enough POCKET change to buy all the nuclear weapons he might want.
Why would he want to do that? He has more money than God anyway. No blasphemy intended, just making a point.
Besides, WHY would he want to make enemies with the West? The West is his biggest petroleum and natural gas client.
Now that the King personally owns all the petroleum and natural gas in the KSA, HE collects all the revenues. Those would be $1,000,000,000 [ONE BILLION] every two and a half days...and that was 1983 money.
Yikes!
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