Russia is in a very weak position. The US is also weak. The US wants to do more than it really can. They found this out last year with Syria. In relation to Russia, they found it out with their ill-advised Georgian proxy experiment. The two sides should stalemate. They could try to choke off each other. The main lever of the US is financial and trade restrictions. Russia can hurt the European economy. But in this game... Russia will lose. It is a capitalist country now.... Even the Stalinists in the 1980s decided they could not maintain the USSR in isolation from the world economy, and the USSR even in the 1980s had infinitely more ability to attempt such an endeavor.

The chinese are really smart enuff to know which side to choose -- and when and how. So I do NOT expect the Imperialists to win WWIII. However, we may ALL lose THIS bet.

Russia had better be talking with China, Iran, India and Pakistan..The comments coming out of NATO the EU and Washington are nothing short of Deranged

Russia needs China to be a fully integrated ally to even think about surviving American imperialism, economically, militarily, or politically. They should solidify their semi-formal ties and announce a public pact, including mutual defense, economic exchange/aid, military cooperation, and diplomatic coordination. The only obstacle is the national narrow-mindedness of the capitalist governments of Russia and China.

Yes, you are correct solerso in noticing that their is indeed a deranged quality to all of these recent NATO announcements. This is because this military alliance is not acting out of strength but rather fear. The biggest fear is that the people of Europe both East and West are beginning to wake up and see that it is NATO that has become the single greatest threat to their lives and personal security and not Russia.

The power structure knows instinctively, i.e. reflexively that the only way to counter this deeply dreaded mass public awakening is another major world conflict so as to dragoon the masses and the popular will of the people into serving just such an end.

The only real present end that is in sight however is the end of the present unrepentant hyper-predatory version of global capitalism headed up by the world's
principle capitalist power the USA.

A time of transition is obviously at hand and the US power structure and its satelite minions are feeling quite uneasy in regard to past and ongoing global changes that threaten to replace US global dominance with a new multi-polar world order.

Such countries as Russia and China would have equal status with the US. That is something that the US ruling class and its elected and non-elected power structure refuses to allow to happen. Rather than to peacefully agree to this new division of global power the US ruling class has chosen a new round of global warfare as the better option to insure continued US domination and/or hegemony.

As the wsws.org has so correctly pointed out, Putin's oligharic Russia as well as the residual Stalinist state in China offer the people of our planet
no viable and/or useful alternative to US dominance and hegemony.

The only real solution is for the active interference of the masses into the decision making processes that will lead to a new global round of warfare in order to defeat these processes.

"Rome was not built in a day" and the kind of global organized fightback that is required has been slow in coming but nevertheless coming in a fit or starts and stops as epitomized by such socio-political developments such as the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US, the Arab Spring, as well as the whole current round of global unrest that the imperialists hope to entrap by way of another outbreak of global war.

The forces of civilization are being pitted against the forces of barbarism. The forces of life are being challenged by the merchants of death.

very asstoot

More than Russia vs Europe, it'd most likely be more like Russia vs Germany.... which is an awful, awful thing to think about.

Also, on a side note, I know Russia is Eurasian, but at this point, Russia may as well be its own continent. Dat Siberia. :P