Edward Hugh at Fisftul of Euro's has an extended post on Russia's economic downturn. Read the whole thing, but long story short, Russia is suffering a series of pretty serious economic problems. Not all of these can be blamed on the South Ossetia War, but the war didn't help; it indicated to investors that Russia was more erratic than they'd like. Hugh doesn't expect a collapse, but does foresee some pain, which the decline in oil prices will do nothing to alleviate. On the same subject, Small Wars Journal highlights a couple of links, the first regarding an attack on Russian troops in South Ossetia (7 Russian soldiers were killed), and the second a broad piece on the economic, demographic, and infrastructure challenges facing Russia. The upshot is that Russia shouldn't be wasting its money on power projection in South America. Russia is substantially less capable of competing with the United States now than it was in 1985, and is ill-served by a leadership that believes otherwise. The flip-side of this is that heralds of renewed Cold War rivalry in the United States need to get a grip; Russia provides no credible military, economic, or political threat to the United States, its successful invasion of Georgia notwithstanding. --Robert Farley
