>>>Russia stopped being a threat good 30 years ago. I don't see them being threat today unless they are seriosely provoked.
>>>
>>
>>30 years ago = 1978. I know the strength and passion of your opinions are much greater than your actual knowledge of history, but do you know when the USSR invaded Afghanistan?
>
>What I meant was from 80ies and up. Ok make it 20 years to be on a save side.
>But how does this makes your precious (s)think tankers (still stuck with Globe in one hand, and pen_s in another)
>to be any less in the bunnies ?
>
>Things got very complicated from 90ies and on;
>How do we get to 'save the world' if there is no Arch-Foe to save it from ?!?
>
>>
>>I do agree they are not a "threat" today - just a powerful nation with great resources and some dangerous weapons which is still trying to find its place in the world and trying to work out how it will govern itself.
>>
>>And this is very much the opinion of the US policy makers you seem to misunderstand so completely.
>
>Enlighten me.
>What is that policy ? Winking at Shalisquashwilly in Georgia ?

You know the whole issue of Chechnya/Georgia/Nagorno Kharabak or anything in that area is all about oil and natural gas pipelines, otherwise nobody would care?

It is also an area where the US pokes Russia when they want to apply pressure and have something to trade-off when they need something someplace else. A good example is the deal in 2001 to get staging rights and fly-over rights to set up forces in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to invade Afghanistan. In return we backed off in the Georgia/Chechnya area and gave Putin a lot more latitude to do what he wanted there. I am not sure what the deal is now with Georgia.

But that is the way the game is played.

And the think-tanks you refer to are very realistic about Russia and are not bogged down in cold-war thinking. The issues are natural resources, banking and currency, and arms proliferation. There is nothing ideological about it. (and certainly nothing ideological about Putin. This would be the same game if Peter the Great were running the show)