Paradigm shift in the Russian Armed forces – military analysts are stunned while Western media kee

Latest news and further evidence of fundamental changes with in Russian Navy;

As of 09.12.2007 EVERY RF fleet commander has been replaced.

Some of the new faces are Vice-admiral Konstantin Sidenko, vice-admiral Viktor Mardusin will command the Baltic fleet.

Entire Black Sea fleet command changed back in June 07, while Navy commander Vladimir Marosin retired at age 60 and was replaced with Vladimir Visotskiy in September of 07.

As of now the entire Russian Navy command has been replaced, and the relocation to St. Petersburg is going ahead as planned.

Unreal.

I don’t think all of this is really that dramatic or surprising. I think that most countries that are enjoying a prosperous economy are all boosting their military might. China, Russia, India even Australia is starting to put the “big bucks” in military these days.

The Russian people have a lot of pride in their country. I'd wager they beat the hell out of Americans when it comes to nationalism. They want to show the world that they are not bleeding, and they are not 'down and out'.

The fact that they are sitting on top of some rather lusted-after resources would also be a big motivator for them to start pumping life back into their military. Sometimes, to do that, you have to 'shake things up' and move thing around.... and stifle old habits/ways of doing things.

Russia is looking at it this way - China has a booming economy... but is, itself, reliant on external resources for its own economy. It has very few usable natural resources of its own. Their coal is soft and burns impure (bad for smelting iron), and many of their ores are impure. Their real resource is labor.

China has been pumping money into its own military - and it is only a matter of time before they decide it's time for them to acquire some resources that extend beyond labor. Their dwindling female population suitable for childbirth is also threatening to cause a population collapse (and thus the collapse of their one resource).

Russia has a LOT of land to cover, and as much as they are acting tough to the U.S. - they are really trying to show the Chinese that they have the ability to not only defend themselves - but inflict serious damage on the Chinese homeland if the need arises.

I'm glad to see they are getting their feet back under them. I am not so certain about Putin and his objectives, sometimes - but the U.S. needs a balance of power to keep us in line. We've gotten sloppy over the past few decades, and we need another big kid on the block to keep us on our toes.

We also really need Russia to come back and help straighten all of its former lesser-states in the middle-east out. They went bananas after the USSR collapsed and the U.S. left them high and dry.

I think another "cold war" of sorts is inevitable. It may be more "friendly" than it was before (although it's really wasn't half as bad as it all seemed to be at the time) - but we'll have the same one-upsmanship in our economies, military, and industry.

I really think it will only turn out to be a good thing to see Russia return to power. The U.S. cannot police the world. But we can police our half... and they can police theirs - and everyone is happy - and our fighter jocks get to show off to each other while on patrol, flip each other off - and we just pretend like we hate each other.