I am really alarmed about developments with Russia.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by BlueK

Individual states might be too weak, but there is no reason the EU together couldn't come up with a powerful military force if they wanted to. But they won't as long as they have the crutch of the US supporting NATO like we do. They don't want to because they don't want to spend the money and we're doing it for them.

Oh I agree, but I don't think we could defend them in time even if we wanted to at this moment, unless it was with tactical nukes. Look how quickly Hitler put the unwary continent under his thumb. I don't think Russia has aspirations beyond its former client states even in its wildest dreams. Then again, that was the thinking in Munich in 1939 when Hitler was allowed to keep Czechoslovakia.

It isn't crazy to think in terms of what a country is capable of. This is the very reason that Russia totally ignores what we say about our missile shield deployment in Poland. They only look to what capability it gives us. These are lessons that other generations have learned. I hope we don't have to learn them, but the reality seems to be that once the generation that has experienced an authentic threat first hand passes away, the new generation doesn't quiet believe it can ever emerge until it does. Fortunately we have always had the luxury of geographic isolation.