Russia has the population of Nigeria and the GDP of Italy.
The cold war ended a while ago. Worrying about them today makes about as much sense as worrying about Autria in 1930 because Austrohungaria used to be a world power.
The cold war ended a while ago. Worrying about them today makes about as much sense as worrying about Autria in 1930 because Austrohungaria used to be a world power.
I don't think it was a sleight on Nigeria. Just a poetic way to emphasize the weakness of the Russian economy by highlighting the disparity between its population and its GDP. And while the population of Nigeria is is larger it's in the right ballpark for the argument being made. They could have said Pakistan, Bangladesh or Indonesia. Although I suspect those nations have even larger populations but not by an order of magnitude.
And yet, still the west endlessly obsesses about Russia, for some reason.
It’s foolish to discount them.
And nothing bad came out of Austria in the 1930s.