re: #272 lawhawk

Russia ranks 11 or 12 by GDP. It’s GDP is roughly equivalent to the size of New York’s GDP. The US GDP is $21 trillion. Russia? $1.6. NY has $1.7 trillion in GDP.

New York’s GDP is surpassed only by CA and TX, at $3 and $1.8 trillion, respectively.

But for nukes and active military spending, plus ongoing disinformation campaigns, Russia would be an afterthought in the global economy.

The only reason it ranks as high as 11 or 12 is due to petrodollars. Other than that, it has no real economy. It is a basket case — but one that can blow up the world and destroy everything around it. It is a nation with so much potential but it’s been plagued by incompetent leadership through much of its existence. I’ve always thought that if Trotsky had won the power struggle, the situation might have been different, but who knows?