Seven nations form CSTO

Honestly, I’m not buying this whole "collapse of the USA" narrative for a second. Not happening!
The Chinese have this saying about how every crisis is actually an opportunity... and they might be onto something there.
I truly believe the USA is going to come out of this mess even more dominant than before. How? It's pretty simple, really.
It’s all about pivoting to new energy sources—we're talking massive, groundbreaking breakthroughs that they'll deploy just to leave the rest of the world staring in shock.
At the end of the day, the USA is still the global engine driving progress—it’s where all the top-tier talent and the heaviest capital on the planet gravitate toward.

Respect to the Russians 👍👍👍
Go RUSSIA!
For motherland. For Russia.

Nancy Wood6 said:Look, let’s be real—the whole NATO expansion thing has absolutely zero to do with Islamic states or any of that made-up terrorism nonsense. It’s just a distraction, really. At the end of the day, whether you're looking at the top brass or the boots on the ground, the USA and Russia are the only ones truly calling the shots here—they're the main focus and the absolute priority above everything else. And honestly? That's not changing anytime soon—not in our lifetime, anyway.

I actually touched on this a bit back when I was posting in that thread about how Ukraine is basically the linchpin for the whole global order—you know, since the USA is so incredibly eager to get them tucked into NATO, much like they want to do with Georgia. Though, honestly, getting Georgia in is gonna be a much tougher climb—it's a whole different ballgame because they haven't quite managed to reclaim their full territorial integrity yet, and you can't really qualify for a military alliance like that if your borders are still up in the air.

Look, if you take all those former Soviet states—and let's be real, I’m not even counting the three Baltic republics because they’re basically already firmly planted in the Western camp by every metric imaginable—US strategists are only ever looking at them through one specific lens. It's all about encircling Russia. The whole goal seems to be creating this scenario where they can box Russia in, essentially shrinking them down to just their own borders. We're talking about stripping away any ability to run a foreign policy or exert influence, and honestly, making it impossible for them to even define national interests outside their own backyard. If that actually played out—and for the last 15 years or so, it really did look like it was heading that way—Russia would eventually just disarm itself. They’d finally have to buckle under the sheer weight and status of the USA.

So, look—once Vladimir Putin took the reins, everything just started shifting. You’ve got energy prices climbing, industrial production getting that second wind, and a massive surge in influence over the EU's energy sector. Plus, he basically breathed life back into a military that was looking pretty demoralized for a while. Between the rising living standards and those super efficient moves in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia has really managed to flip the script on a few major trends. They’ve basically brought Kazakhstan under their wing, too. And Uzbekistan—which is such a massive player in Central Asia—really shook off NATO back in 2005. If I remember correctly, those guys only have rights to supply fuel at one specific Uzbek base now. Then you’ve got Tajikistan, which is leaning heavily toward being pro-Russian, and Kyrgyzstan is also effectively shutting NATO out of their bases. The only wild card left is Turkmenistan. It’s one of the most closed-off places on the planet, and they're acting pretty hesitant—but not because they're cozy with NATO, more like because nobody actually knows what their leadership is planning next. Honestly, it feels like the Russians just swooped in and dismantled years of painstaking groundwork the Americans had been trying to lay across Central Asia. It’s pretty clear that the militaries in these countries are now looking to Moscow for a place to land and some real support.

It’s all just basic logic, really—Russia is playing the long game here, moving piece by piece to pull everyone back into their orbit. You’ve already got Belarus and Armenia in the mix, and now you see Azerbaijan flirting with the Americans over energy deals, even though they're still dealing with that whole mess in Nagorno-Karabakh being held by pro-Russian Armenia. It's all connected, I swear. Then you’ve got the wildcards like Georgia and Ukraine. Honestly, Georgia is basically a done deal at this point since NATO membership is off the table for them anyway—plus, they're starting to realize that Russia isn't exactly the enemy, but more like the one who pushed them into a fight with a neighbor they've actually coexisted with for centuries while building their own identity. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it! And then there’s Ukraine—the absolute linchpin of everything. But even there, you can see things shifting, and let me tell you, Moscow isn't going to let that country slip into some unnatural alliance no matter what it takes. Oh, and I almost forgot Moldova! Man, that place is so weighed down by drama and issues that it's hard to imagine them pivoting anywhere else anytime soon. At least for now, anyway.

I mean, people love to ask, "Why won't Russia just let this happen?" Like, who are they to decide? That’s just how the world works—big players have national interests that reach way beyond their own borders. And look, unlike the USA, which basically views its own interests as applying to the entire planet, Russia mostly just wants to push its agenda within the old USSR territory—minus the three Baltic states, obviously—and that's that. Nobody can really stop them from doing that. Plus, it’s not like Russia was making military threats against Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan just to get them to turn away NATO. These Central Asian republics realized pretty quickly that Russia is their natural ally, and honestly, they thrive best through that kind of symbiosis. They’ve all established their own national identities, brought back their native languages, and there’s zero fear of any sort of Russification happening. It’s all about interests here—interests that matter deeply to the Central Asian nations, the Caucasus, Belarus, Ukraine, and maybe even Moldova, which definitely wants to stay on good terms and in an alliance with Russia.

This military alliance isn't going to be fully operational overnight, but man, the message it sends is huge. Bit by bit, especially with energy prices climbing and all this tech regeneration, Russia and its backyard are going to become a massive global player again.

Flo, you're probably just some Soviet-Russian propagandist who hasn't the slightest clue what you're talking about, blindly following Russian political ideology or some outdated pamphlet you picked up somewhere.

Try incorporating some objective facts and stop peddling Russian propaganda!

As for the KGB—please, that's nothing more than a blatant political maneuver by Russia to distract Ukraine from the NATO alliance. Even if the KGB wanted to, they couldn't hold a candle to NATO; just look at the sheer scale of the NATO member states compared to the KGB and stop talking nonsense.

Maybe stick to topics you actually understand!👎

jadebear14 said:Don't you ever say "never"... who knows, maybe next winter when things get dicey—like if they run low on gas or oil, for instance. 😉

That’s about as likely as Israel merging with Germany back in 1950...

If you ask me, this is pretty much what we expected to see, given how NATO has been acting lately.

Morgan Johnson2 said:Flo, you're probably just some Soviet-Russian propagandist who hasn't the slightest clue what you're talking about, blindly following Russian political ideology or some outdated pamphlet you picked up somewhere.

Try incorporating some objective facts and stop peddling Russian propaganda!

As for the KGB—please, that's nothing more than a blatant political maneuver by Russia to distract Ukraine from the NATO alliance. Even if the KGB wanted to, they couldn't hold a candle to NATO; just look at the sheer scale of the NATO member states compared to the KGB and stop talking nonsense.

Maybe stick to topics you actually understand!👎

Russia alone can hold its own against NATO—maybe not politically, but militarily, they certainly can!
The KGB could become an incredibly powerful alliance if China and India were to join them...

That alliance is built more on shared fear than actual affection—but hey, it definitely sends a loud message to NATO.

Russia needs heavy hitters like Ken and India on their side... without them, this whole alliance is just a warning shot aimed at NATO and nothing more.

I suspect China could slide into this quite effortlessly. India might be a bit more of a stretch—honestly, I’d wager they’ll see Iran or Pakistan jump on board long before India even considers it.

Jonathan Miller said:Russia alone can hold its own against NATO—maybe not politically, but militarily, they certainly can!
The KGB could become an incredibly powerful alliance if China and India were to join them...

And I bet you’re already picturing Mexico joining that crew just to go out and tear apart Albanians, Canadians, and Americans, while poor little NATO sits there paralyzed because they’re too terrified of Mother Russia to even lift a finger.🤣 Get real!!

Secondly, let’s be honest: India isn't going to jump into an alliance like that, and China doesn't have any interest in such a setup either—unless, of course, their goal is to pull foreign capital out of a country where more than half the population is literally starving. The only ones who might actually show up would be North Korea, but frankly, I doubt BlackRock would even take them, because then they'd actually face the terrifying possibility of having to fight someone!!!!!

urbantiger37 said:And I bet you’re already picturing Mexico joining that crew just to go out and tear apart Albanians, Canadians, and Americans, while poor little NATO sits there paralyzed because they’re too terrified of Mother Russia to even lift a finger.🤣 Get real!!

Secondly, let’s be honest: India isn't going to jump into an alliance like that, and China doesn't have any interest in such a setup either—unless, of course, their goal is to pull foreign capital out of a country where more than half the population is literally starving. The only ones who might actually show up would be North Korea, but frankly, I doubt BlackRock would even take them, because then they'd actually face the terrifying possibility of having to fight someone!!!!!

None of that is going to happen; Russia is just trying to gather up former USSR states to act as a buffer zone along their borders, nothing more.
And those former Soviet countries are naturally drifting toward Moscow anyway, since they're dependent on them and there's still a fair amount of Soviet nostalgia running through the region.
As for recreating the USSR, there isn't even a foundation for that, because I don't think Russia itself is truly interested; it would just cost them far too much economically.

Honestly, nobody should even bother complaining about this—it’s a waste of breath. Meanwhile, the folks in India have much bigger headaches, like dealing with the Taliban potentially resurfacing next door. At the end of the day, it all boils down to how much influence a more aggressive, Putin-led Russia can exert over the US; these whole "alliances" basically live or die based on how Washington behaves. I don't buy a single word Obama said back then about Georgia and those missile shields—give me a break—and sooner or later, some fringe extremist is going to pop up again with their own set of delusional obsessions. The only way out now is to play it smarter with Iran, otherwise, they’ve permanently trashed the Middle East and their relationship with Russia. And judging by the elections, it looks like the Israelis are more than happy to help them mess it up. 🙄

I don't know, man... feels to me like the US-Middle East dynamic is being steered by forces way beyond the reach of KPMG or anything else coming out of that sphere.

I just realized what kind of crowd hangs out on this sub. If you’re all seriously out here claiming India could actually join an alliance like that, then give me one single logical reason why they would bother—just one. Stop just throwing random nonsense out there that flies in the face of common sense!