In addition...

I just wanted to add a few things:

1) Russia is currently the 7th largest economy on the face of the earth, but it is the 3rd FASTEST GROWING (behind China and India). To put that into perspective... the US is still the largest economy on the earth, but it is only projecting a 1.7% rate of economic growth right now (2008), compared to Russia's 8.7% rate of growth LAST YEAR! With crude, gas and diesel still at record highs, no one I have seen is projecting a slow-down on the Russian economy anytime soon.

2) Russia is currently ranked 8th in the total number of troops available for combat, right behind the US at 7th... but if one removes the ultra-reservist categories like the US Coast Guard Aux. and the Civil Air Patrol, the US and Russia are very closely matched, soldier-to-soldier, with the Russkies having about a 5% edge on us (they still maintain about a 30% conscription rate).

3) While much of Russia's military might relies on questionable technology (especially within their Strategic Rocket Forces and their submersible and surface Naval Forces), the bulk of their air force and infantry/armor capacity is just as functional now as it was in 1991. No one that I know of is questioning the capabilities of the AK-74, or the MiG-29, or the T-90 MBT as weapons that can do the job in most 2nd and 3rd World theaters of operation.

I bring up these points so that there is no question about my position in regards to Russia: They pose a real and measurable threat to US interests globally, as long as they are willing to use military means to gain their OWN interests and objectives. From the first Chechnyan conflict of 1994 to the current "dust-up" in Georgia, Russia has not stopped eyeing the possibility of expanding its influence, both internally, regionally (within the borders of the former USSR and Warsaw Pact states) and internationally. This is something NO US President can afford to forget... and Mac won't, but Obama already has.

Of course, I haven't mentioned the 1,900+ thermo-nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles that the nation still maintains as a "defensive deterrent" to outside aggression... but I assume this is taken for granted.