Russia the exaggerated adversary

The Random Leftist
Nov 11, 2019
4 min read

Did you hear! We are in a second Cold War. Oh yes, the Ruski’s are back with a vengeance, and them out for world domination. Except they aren’t, and if they were, they won’t stand a chance. Today’s article is intended to go into depth about why modern-day Russia is exaggerated as a threat to American dominance and how Russia is more of a thorn in the side to the United States rather than a direct rival. As a disclaimer, this article is not meant to be an attack on Russia or the Russian people. This article is intended to be a mere discussion of the fact and statistics and means no malice toward the Russians. This article will have three sections, each dedicated to different fields that are used to measure how powerful a country is. First, we will discuss the population of Russia, then the economy, and finally, the countries military. This article will also be using the statistics from the other former Soviet countries to prove further that even with all the former territory of the USSR, Russia still would not be too much of a challenge to the United States hegemony. So without further adieu.

The population of modern-day Russia is 146,793,744, roughly two million less than what it was in 1991, the year the USSR collapsed. The reasons for this are twofold. During the Second World War, Russia lost over one-eighth of its population. So as the years passed and since those who died during the war never reproduced, that meant that during the’ 60s, population growth would become stagnant. However, it didn’t outright decline. There was a dip in life expectancy, however.

Population decline only occurred after the dismantling of the Soviet Union. The radical change in the economic and social structure of the country. Coupled with the fact that the descendants of those who perished in the second world war would have been having children of their own at this time, it caused the countries population to drop. Though the country has experienced some periods of growth and even managed and in 2011, the country also managed to exceed the USSR’s peak life expectancy. Since Russia doesn’t even have half of the population of the United States, it does doesn’t as many people to pull on in the scenario of war and also has a significantly smaller workforce. If we were to combine populations of all former Soviet states, the population would roughly be 295 million people; this, however, would still be 30 million beneath the current United States population. So even with all the territory of the former USSR, the United States would yet have a population advantage over the USSR. During the cold war, this dynamic was reversed, with the USSR having the population advantage over the United States. In 1991 the final year of the USSR’s existence, it’ sits population was 40 million more than the United State’s This goes to show how negatively affected the area was due to the collapse of the USSR.

Despite being the bud of many jokes today, during the cold war, the Soviet economy was no laughing matter. On average, the USSR had a higher economic growth rate than the US, and for most of the cold war, it was the second-biggest economy on Earth. Now, that is to say, it was a flawless system, but it did manage to succeed in the fields it needed to. At its peak in 1966, the USSR’s economy accounted for a fifth of the global GDP. At its lowest, the USSR accounted for 7% of the worldwide economy. In modern-day Russia only accounts for 2% of the worldwide economy, and if one was to combine the GDPs of all former Soviet countries, it is 3%. In 1966 the United States comprised roughly 40% of the global economy, and in 1991, the US made up 25% of the worldwide economy. Today the US makes up approximately 24% of the worldwide economy. Know it’s undeniable that there was a GDP between the US and USSR in terms of economic power, and that gap grew as the cold war went on.

However, one can argue that had the USSR not been dismantled, the gap would probably be narrower. Since the USSR’s GDP decreased by forty percent, and as mentioned earlier, the population reduced after the dismantling of the USSR. The impact the dismantling of the USSR had on the Russian economy even exceeded the impact WW2 had. Though the Soviet system could prove stagnant at times, it hardly ever had instances of mass decline. Though the economics of modern Russia did begin to bounce back and in some metrics even surpassed the USSR during the latter half of the 2000’s it still didn’t return to the magnitude and influence it had during the times of the USSR.

Now we reach the final section of this article, the Russian military. I will admit that I am not the most knowledgeable in military matters. The budget for the Russian army is over 63 billion dollars and 900,000 active personnel, along with two million reserves. By global standards, this is a pretty good military, but compared to the US, it is rather lackluster. With a budget of 693 billion dollars (most extensive in the world) and 1,379,804 active personnel and 845,600 reserves. Also, as mentioned earlier, the United States population and is significantly stronger in regards to economics. Now one thing Russia does have over the United States is the number of nuclear warheads it has. However, this primarily serves as a deterrent rather than a measure of power and influence.

In conclusion, though not a weak nation and more than capable of protecting its sovereignty, it statistically is not capable of usurping the United States as world hegemon. Though the future is not entirely for the country, the chances of it becoming the leading world power are unlikely. As stated earlier, this is not meant to be a personal attack against the Russian nation. So Putin does not come after me. I am merely reporting the stats, and the stats say there is little chance for Russia to surpass the US. China, on the other hand.

Russia the exaggerated adversary

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