In 2014, Russia will spend about 5% of its GDP on defense. Even the US spends a smaller percentage (4,4%).
All of this could have easily been avoided and we wouldn’t be facing round 2 of the Cold War today if in 1990s the leadership of developed countries hadn’t chosen to believe that the presence of a couple of ballot boxes just has to translate to democracy.
Nobody is capable of thinking long-term. In what concerns climate change, diplomacy, the economy, education, people are pig-headedly concentrated on the immediate and can’t see past what’s happening right now.
Clarissa's Blog 
A weakness of Democracy. The politician only see as far as the next election, maybe two at the maximum. And the average congressman or president has no institutional memory, because he views *himself* as his own institution. Whereas a monarchy, or the church, or even the army… there’s a lot more past and collective tradition, so a prince or a bishop or a general can look back and say “this is what *we* did 100 years ago… what will people think of us, 100 years from now…” It doesn’t always work, but there’s at least the possibility for long term thinking, and an institutional expectation that one will maintain and progress the institution’s long term vision.
But for a guy who views history as starting the day he was elected, no chance! And we have hundreds of them!
As for the average man-on-the-street… well, since the beginning of civilization, every society is about two bad weeks away from revolution. So that’s where his focus is.
Side note: El: I have responded as promised to the 3/27 post, ‘Cold War and Chess’.
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That all being said… the hawks in the Republican party are no doubt enjoying the schadenfreude. Another few months of Putin’s antics and we may have the left demanding increases to the military budget – that same pile of expenditures that they’ve fumed at since Clinton. Likewise the Euro’s, smugly lecturing the U.S. about the comparatively advanced state of their social welfare programs while ignoring it was only possible *because* we took over their national defense, may look at Ukraine and question whether they got the bargain they thought they did.
So at least someone’s happy!
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Yes, all true. Unfortunately.
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