@pancake <my 2 cents>In the current turn of events, the world has all the chances to experience a new confrontation, whether it’s in the shape of a new cold war, or a warmer one (hopefully not) - this time between China and the US.

There might be boots on the ground in Ukraine, there might be not. There might be less troops than mentioned in the leak or not. What it is for sure is that Russia is no longer in the big superpower league. At least you cannot be there when the other superpower has penetrated your entire military and intelligence structures as the same leaked documents show. And this goes to tell one imo that it is not democracy that makes a country weak, but rather corruption. When you have a well-functioning democracy with strong institutions taking each-other accountable, then what critics say is taken into account by the government and this is just beneficial for the country itself as a whole and for its interests. But when your state has weak and corrupt institutions overall, these are no longer working for your country’s interests, but only for the interests of a group of people which may or may not have your country’s best interest in mind. Add in a dictatorship of one man such as mr. Putler surrounding himself by yes-men and you’ve got what Russia is today: a country with virtually no army (only soldiers to use as cannon fodder) that is super-predictable in its actions, a pariah in the international scene and a power that can barely face a country a few dozen times smaller its size and armed with meager Western equipment (and likely forces). How can a country like that even think of winning against the entire armies of 31 independent states, all working together?
</my_2_cents>

Regarding the arest I really do not know what to think. I have mixed oppinions about the Russian opposition in general - on one side, people like Boris Nemtsov were supportive of the annexation of Crimea back in the '90s and Alexey Navalny was really having links with far-right groups - but there are also people like Garry Kasparov who openly support the return of Crimea to Ukraine and withdrawing all troops to the 1992 official border (Do check out this interview with him on Europa FM radio station in Romania, highly interesting). Call me a dreamer, a wishful thinker, whatever you want, but I am still hoping in a democratic Russia, one that abides to the international order and the rule of law. ☺

@0x815