lol Putin is no idiot. Russia is experiencing both economic and demographic surge since he came to power. His success is nothing short of spectacular.
Russia has been existing side by side with Chinese and the muslims for centuries, and it was always the Russians who were outnumbered, yet they managed to survive this long.
US has no sense of history and long-term relations and processes, thats it sees everything as a dramatic, climactic point.
From everything I have seen, the Russian demographics are not good. Population is shrinking, childbirth is well under what is needed to keep the population level. And while they’ve always had a drinking problem, that’s not good either, with the average Russian male dying in the mid 40s.
Yes, they did well historically fending off the Mongols and others, and gradually expanding over the years. But I don’t think things are great there now, except for those belonging to the new political mafia that has emerged out of the KGB.