Fear Russia?

While Russia's capital city, Moscow, seems to have made it into the 21st Century....

....most of the rest of the country hasn't progressed much since the Cold War days.

Yes, they still have a formidable nuclear arsenal, and they're spending a disproportionate amount of their GNP modernizing their military, but Russia is only a second rate country on the world stage.  Consider this:

The Gross Domestic Product of California is $2.40 Trillion dollars.*

The Gross Domestic Product of Texas is $1.698 Trillion dollars.*

The Gross Domestic Product of New York is $1.44 Trillion dollars.*

The Gross Domestic Product of Russia is $1.324 Trillion dollars.*

This imbalance is why Vladimir Putin is so desperate to see Russia regain its former prestige and power.  He simply won't acknowledge they are not equal to western nations. Economic sanctions imposed by the west are hurting Russia, and they are pulling out all the stops to get them removed.  This is also why they are so very dangerous.  Desperate people do desperate things.  Watch them very closely!

S

* 2015 statistics