No arms race after US-Russia pact collapses - Nato

Russian natural gas is heating all of Europe with Germany as the "dealer." Germany gets no money out of the deal. But...Germany has the "keys." This is why Greece and Ireland publicly bitched and moaned that they were not going to pay their EU loan bills but then mysteriously turned around and made the payments. Germany "asked" them again...in the winter... "Pay or we shut the gas off."

So right now, its 1939 all over again but instead of Hitler and Stalin partitioning Poland, it's Merkel and Putin heating Europe with gas. This is why Russian military building has not really done much except go to sales. Russia is building record numbers of tanks and ships but they are going to customers. Russia and Germany have finally found the joy that they have always dreamed of.

Now...for us - this creates a hateful dynamic as everyone's at peace and the enemy we've taught everyone to fear is now providing heating gas to all of Europe. Want even more fun? China is redoing Russia's Eastern infrastructure. For free. What do you wanna bet Russia starts selling gas to Asia with China as its salesman, much like Germany in Europe? Oooops. No more American influence in Asia. "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out yankee..."

Russia is no longer the conventional military threat it once was. Russia's economy is stagnant and at times declining, it's population is declining and it no longer has access to large populations like the Ukraine to man a large standing Army. The likelyhood Russia would find itself tempted by the Nuclear option is decreasing over time as it's ability to even field a conventional force that threatens the U.S. or NATO is decreasing over time. Hence I think this is the reason the United States no longer cares about the Russian Nuclear aresenal. China is a different story and China never signed the INF which was another strike against it. However, to my knowledge China is no longer building or even modernizing it's Nuclear aresenal as it has plenty of manpower for a large conventional force.

I for one support the decision to withdraw from this treaty. Russia has been using this treaty as toilet paper for years now with their hypersonic missile program. And even if they WERE obeying the treaty, China sure isn't, they aren't even a signatory to it. Any new treaty restricting the development and deployment of new weapon systems like these HAS to include them as well in the future.