I don't believe this.
Siberia has tons of undeveloped natural resources and rare earth minerals.
RE: Siberia has tons of undeveloped natural resources and rare earth minerals.
Undeveloped does not translate to wealth or GDP.
California as an independent country lead by Newsom,sharing a border with Russia, having their own currency, & having to finance their own military, regardless of California’s GNP/GDP, would be the weaker nation.
Putin vs Newsom is an absolute joke.
Russia would invade, knocking out 50% of California’s real estate values in a month.
After 3 months the California economy would be kaput.
2 years later California’s energy sector would be improving, with the cheapest gas they had since the 1990’s.
And none of the extra, ah, we'll call it weight that bogs down California and, increasingly, Texas.
“ with a GDP smaller than those of California and Texas
I don’t believe this.
Siberia has tons of undeveloped natural resources and rare earth minerals. ”
Both things can be, and in fact ARE, true.
A long time ago they started counting the service sector and every other Bullshit into the GDP figure.
Russia has about 1/2 our population, but is more resource rich yet, larger, and has about 60% of our armed forces in size (280,000 active duty Army, 160,000 Navy, 190,000 air force), a comparable and arguably more modern nuclear deterrent force (they invested a lot because they want to be able to overcome our missile defense - otherwise it's not a deterrent force).
They are one of the big players on the table especially if you consider Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Kirghistan and Tajikistan which are all part of their security alliance. That doesn't count others like Chechnya, Uzbekistan, etc. that will likely chip in also (politically/economically tied to Russia).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_Security_Treaty_Organization
We are definitely the big guy in terms of troop levels, industry, population (military aged males), high tech, resources (when you look at all the West and what we have access to)... But they are not to be discounted. No they are no longer the big power house they once were. The Warsaw Pact is gone and the Soviet Union dissolved. In fact much of the Warsaw Pact and some former Soviet states are NATO members today - and that is sort of the issue. Today we are encroaching on them, but of course when we do this it's all for the right reasons.
What is interesting about the Russians is that they are not just mere copycats like some others. They are a near peer that is based on parallel development of military systems, meaning they have their own R&D, doctrine development, etc. In fact, the Russians are the only ones that really have anything near what we have that is domestically developed (they come up with their own stuff), whereas the Chinese just steal and copy what we have, or buy it from the Russians.
It is this sort of thinking (in the article listed) which has led us to this problem. ***Entirely arrogant and discounting the other sides perspectives.*** The basic premise is that if you're big enough, you get to make the rules, and screw everyone else.
Undeveloped. That means they do not contribute to the GDP.
So does Afghanistan, but as long as there are Afghans, they will never be commercially viable to extract..
Undeveloped resources do not a GDP make. Russia has a low population, and it does not look likely to increase, so not much development is going to occur.
“Siberia has tons of undeveloped natural resources and rare earth minerals.”
Yeah, undeveloped being the key word. Stuff sitting in the ground doing nothing doesn’t contribution to your national production.