Russia - An Economic and Military Third World?
Aby July 2nd, 2007
The economic boom of China and its emergence as a global military power put quite a lot of interest on China as the next possible superpower. In this game of China baiting, some of the western countries like UK and USA assumed that the long silence of Russia in global political and military issues signified its weakening. They were in for a shock at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s verbal attack at US last February and a few months later, his blatant refusal to hand over Andrei Lugovi to UK in the Litvinenko murder case. These developments were followed by Russia’s RS 24 ICBM and Iskander cruise missile tests on 29th May, 2007 and then the recent Bulava SLBM test on 28th June - both considered as a show of Putin’s displeasure at US activities in Eastern Europe. Analysts went as far as dubbing the new missile tests and renewed US vs Russian arms race as Cold War 2 while critics claim that Russia’s present economy and military power is not capable of a Cold War situation. Let us see how far it goes…
GW Bush, the US president gets mocked at by Vladmir Putin, the Russian President for making a stupid comment during G8 summit of 2006 at St. Petersburg (Click on video to play)
Economy - Russia’s economy is booming at a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 7.9% in the first quarter of 2007, as reported by The Economist, London [18th June 2007]. And it is not only oil and gas which is fuelling this growth but also the boom in infrastructure, manufacturing and trade (a la China). The disposable incomes of the Russians has risen by 13% and so did their investments. While it might not be possible to sustain such a high GDP growth of 7.9% for long considering the sluggish oil and gas sectors; the annual GDP growth of 2007 is expected to be around 7.0 - 7.5%. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), the 2006 per capita GDP (at Purchasing Power Parity) of Russia was at US $12,096 while the same for People’s Republic of China was at US $7,598. With a per capita GDP growth of China at 9.8% against Russia’s 7.0% in 2006, China has a long way to go to overtake Russia if the economic boom of 2007 is taken into account.
Military - The strategic military might of Russia is an inheritance of the USA vs USSR Cold War arms race. It is the undisputed numero uno in nuclear forces and is next to the United States in conventional forces. Russia is a global leader in strategic missiles and nuclear warheads with the fastest ICBM, largest number of ICBMs, fastest cruise missile, most powerful nuclear bomb, largest number of nuclear warheads, mobile truck based non-silo ICBM launchers and strategic long range SLBMs. Air force is another area where Russia scores with only the United States and European Union (EU) capable of pitting against Russia. In spite of a defence budget smaller than USA or EU, Russian Air Force and their fighters often outdo their US counterparts on an equal footing during military exercises. The Russian Navy lost the true blue water capabilities of US Navy after the collapse of USSR but is still ages ahead of other naval forces in terms of ships, submarines, missiles and equipments. The strength of its military is still at the level of a superpower which has been recognised and accepted both by the UN Security Council and Group of Eight (G8) nations.
In spite of US and UK engaging in mud-slinging at Russia at every available opportunity, the fact remains that Russia is still their formidable military opponent, the greatest roadblock to America’s plan to dominate the world. Russia influences a lot of what happens around the global political and military arena. Russia’s military is still one of the most powerful in the world, despite being much reduced in size after the breakup of USSR. Russia’s political pull in the world is still strong because of its military superiority, oil resources and super large arms market (most of the military arms and ammunition in the world are made by former-USSR and present Russia). Russia will continue to have the political support of countries who feel threatened by the US foreign policy of military domination and political double standards. As for United States and United Kingdom despite the apprehension against Russia’s resurging political power, there is no wishing away its unchallenged military might…
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Excellent article! It will help dispel the notions people stuck in the 1990s have about Russia.
Only Russia can match the United States as far as the military strength is concerned. Russian navy is arguably the best in the world today and their missiles (Topol) are far superior to any other missile in the world. Under President Putin’s leadership, Russia is fast moving in the right direction and in the coming days we can see Russia as an economic and military super power. If Soviet Union had existed today, they would have gone to planet Mars and would have went beyond the United States in every field. In 10-15 years Russia would regain the super power status thanks to the rich oil/gas resources which are the main source of economy for the Russians.
It is vital to maintain a bipolar world. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R the U.S.A was left unchallenged, with no force standing in the way of its foreign policy. This, in my humble opinion, led to the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. However, the situation is changing rapidly, with the emergence of China and stronger Russia. Most analysts are predicting that China will take the vacant place of the U.S.S.R, but I agree totally with the author. Even though the Russian military was weakened after the break up, it remains a formidable force on the world stage, with the best strategic forces in the world (no matter what American experts say about the decaying Russian shield, to comfort themselves I guess), with the mobile Topol units and various highly advanced weaponry of mass destruction. And the Russian navy is experiencing a rebirth after the 10 years of stagnation, with a new plans to build four aircraft carriers and 30 new generation nuclear submarines. And in my opinion, the Russian air forces (with enough funding) could take on the U.S air force in its prime, hands down. Russia is also a key player in world of space technology, soon the GLANAS project will be be activated, contesting the American GPS. And with such active, charismatic and strong leader as Vladimir Putin, Russia is on the right path to regaining its rightful status of world super power.
You people are lackeys living in less developed nations who have far fetched dreams of “surpassing” the United States.
“And in my opinion, the Russian air forces (with enough funding) could take on the U.S air force in its prime, hands down.”
Really? Name a Russian plane on par with the F-22? The F-15 had 10-1 odds over the most advanced Russian planes. F-15’s have been shooting down Migs for the last 30 years, not a single F-15 shot down. That was our technology from 30 years ago. F-22 is our technology from 15 years ago just making it into production. What’s being developed today are weapons systems so advanced that they do not need operators and can seek out and destroy their own targets without any human control. Simply, our computer technology cannot be matched, certain not by Russia and those technological disparities are only going to grow.
@Only The Facts - “You people are lackeys living in less developed nations who have far fetched dreams of “surpassing” the United States.”
Could you spare our readers the verbal insults please? I appreciate your love for America and your nationalist fervour but that hardly is a license to insult others. No one intends to “surpass” the United States, for your information, we are happy without killing humans and destroying cities. We simply don’t like 11 million people around the world dying because of United States aggression and we hope, as does the rest of the world, that someone can stop this madness.
@Only The Facts - “Name a Russian plane on par with the F-22?”
Perhaps you are not aware of Su 37, Su 35,….?
@Only The Facts - “F-15’s have been shooting down Migs for the last 30 years, not a single F-15 shot down.”
The design of F 15 Eagle is widely believed to have been stolen for McDonell Douglas by CIA from the Mikoyan Gurevich Mig 25. However since it has not been explicitly proved as of yet, we won’t be discussing it. And are we talking of any real wars where F 15 shot down Migs? Iraq does not count as a real war, considering it is a country which neither had trained pilots in first world military standards, nor does have a full fledged defence industry. Furthermore Migs 25s are not the most sophisticated of Russian fighters even by 1990s standards. It is Su 30, Mig 27 and Mig 29, which are of the class.
@Only The Facts - “What’s being developed today are weapons systems so advanced that they do not need operators and can seek out and destroy their own targets without any human control. Simply, our computer technology cannot be matched, certain not by Russia and those technological disparities are only going to grow.”
It was funny the way all those hi-tech computers targeted empty tires and broken drums as tanks during the Kosovo conflict. It was also surprising how F 117 steal left heat footprints and created turbulence so that it could be detected and downed. Remember, technology comes from the human brains, it takes a better brain to counter it. One has to look at the failure of DRM and Microsoft Windows in being foolproof to understand it, whatever be the claims.
I couldnt agree more with “aby”. Plus, this arrogance will be america’s downfall. I dont consider America more developed than Europe and Japan. Russia and China are on the right path in their development. And regarding the airforce comments, I honestly dont know where you got your info! Hollywood script writer? No.1 In the Korean war the ratio of migs shot down to american planes was 1:4!!!! Thats the only time when American and russian pilots contested the skies! In other conflicts they were mostly arabs and other nationals undertrained and poorly equiped! Second, no matter what American movies try to potray America lost the war in Vietnam!!
With “superior technology”. You americans should watch less movies and listen to less of what your “democratic government” tells you (while kidnapping innocent civilians around the world, bugging its own citizens phones and carrying out assasinatons of leaders who oppose their policy)! Now, i quote an American ex-pilot during a dubai airshow “america needs 10 to 15 years to close the gap with the latest sukhoi and mig designs”!!! The stealth bomber technology was designer by russian engineers in america! The strategic bomber code name “blackjack” i quote another aviation expert “is far more superior to any american strategic bomber”. Plus unlike americans russians dont show off with their breakthroughs so you never know what they have up their sleeve. And please try to learn about other nations before dishing out comments, there are no such things as “bears walking on the streets in russia” plus russians dont give out passports to mexican mercinaries who fight for them in iraq!! Plus america failed to secure the iraqi oil reserves such a debacle for american economy dont you think?
We have seen the failure of American military in Iraq and the fact is that they have not succeeded in their plan of getting control of Iraq’s rich oil reserves. With all the latest military aircrafts, bombers, missiles, aircraft carriers, satellite systems, computer aided technologies etc., the Americans could not win the war against Iraq. The Russian fighter aircrafts such as SU27, SU30, MIG 29, MIG35’s can match any latest fighter aircraft in the world and the SU27 is the back bone of Chinese airforce. So even with all the financial difficulties faced in the last one decade, the Russains have maintained their class in the military field which really has to be appreciated. I respect the Americans but I dont like their Government’s arrogent attitude against weak nations and they should not think that they are unbeatable.
Russia is fast moving to regain its status as a Super power. The Russians have created history yesterday (02/08/07) by planting their flag on the seabed at the North Pole and thereby claiming huge energy riches of the Arctic Ocean. Russian divers dived so deep (about 4300 meters) beneth the ice-clad North Pole and this is the first time that man dived so deep into the ocean and the first time that he reached seabed at the North Pole. So the Russians have created two records at a time. The Russians “risky and heroic” mission is comparable to “putting a flag on the Moon”.
I’m not talking about governments here. I don’t like the American government per se and I’m not defending all of it’s actions around the world. But let me tell you that as much as I don’t like the American government, I dislike the governments of China, India, and Russia even more. Those governments of past and present have been extremely brutal to it’s own people and had the U.S. not been around to check those countries, everyone one of you would be living in a beautifully stoic communist or Nazi world, probably enslaved by them. So you Indian and Saudi and Europeans hating on America so much try to remember that your world would be a different place without the U.S. The guy from Saudi is especially interesting since your country is a backward and primitive backwater with no rights for women and no freedoms whatsoever, run by a puppet government of the U.S who’s money supports corruption and terrorism around the world. Fat sheiks who milked their countries oil and enslave Indians and Pakis to build their palaces. Look at Dubai running a virtual slave show to build all of their masterpieces for rich tourists. Look at the rampant racism in Europe with the neo-nazi movement gaining steam again. I won’t even go into India since that country along with Pakistan was ranked the most corrupt countries in the world, probably followed very closely by Russia. So before you go pointing fingers at the U.S., take a good look at your own nasty governments and then make your judgements. If any one of your countries had the superpower status of the U.S., believe me, they would be far more “evil” than you claim the U.S. to be. As for superpowers throughout history, the U.S. has been the least destructive in relative comparison, the other superpowers scortched the earth to expand themselves.
First of all “Only The Facts” if you knew at least a bit about other countries and cultures you would know that there is no such thing as a christian citizen of Saudi Arabia (does Andrey sound like a muslim name to you?) I am Russian, I am here temporarily working on a a pipeline project, however you are right in saying that Saudis are backward in the way of their thinking but they not technologically backward and there are more Americans here than workers from Pakistan and India. And btw what about the Mexicans you use as cheap labour? As for Russia being corrupt, true but the level of corruption is decreasing rapidly (and it is only due to the crisis after the collapse of the USSR). And I hate the American government more than I hate terrorists!!
To Only The Facts -
“I dislike the governments of China, India, and Russia even more. Those governments of past and present have been extremely brutal to it’s own people and had the U.S. not been around to check those countries, everyone one of you would be living in a beautifully stoic communist or Nazi world, probably enslaved by them.”
Do you know any little bit about Indian government? Indian government is the reason why we are not in a mess like Pakistan is, moving from one military dictator to another all under your patronage. We have maintain our independence in world affairs and our governments have made policies more ethical and peaceful than USA. Please try not to comments on things which you are totally ignorant about. China and Russia managed to bring more people out of poverty than your government could have ever managed.
“I won’t even go into India since that country along with Pakistan was ranked the most corrupt countries in the world, probably followed very closely by Russia.”
Our bureaucrats are corrupt when it comes to money but we did not kill millions of people around the world, enslave some more millions for our capitalists, used mercenaries to suppress trade unions, etc. etc.. Which is worse, corruption or genocide? Corruption is mostly in regard to money because of the pittance the government servants are paid as official salary. Remember we are the nation of Gandhi who fought against white supremacists in India and South Africa.
@ Only The Facts - “Name a Russian plane on par with the F-22?”
Su-47 Berkut, PAK FA and Mig 1.44. F-22 can also be countered by European jets like Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon, if they are used by pilots of same calibre. It is only US and its sidekicks Australia, Canada or Japan who go all starry eyed about F-22. Are you also aware that the concept of stealth feature in F-22 is based on the researches of Russian mathematican Pyotr Ya. Ufimtsev at Moscow?
@ Only The Facts - “The F-15 had 10-1 odds over the most advanced Russian planes. F-15’s have been shooting down Migs for the last 30 years, not a single F-15 shot down.”
Who were the opposition? War fatigued, under trained Iraqi and Syrian pilots. Try handing the F-15 to Pakistani pilots to fight against Indian Su-30s and Mig-29s. The kill ratio would be in favour of Russian aircrafts as prove by the Himalayan war of 1999 Indian Air Force with Mig-29s overcame Pakistani Air Force with ‘invincible’ F-16s. If you understand basic military strategy you will be aware of C4 values which matter more than aircrafts in the evaluation of air forces. If Russian Air Force had the money, it would overpower US Air Force in technology a matter of a couple of years. Su-47 and Mig 1.44 have prototypes out, the project is halted because of funds shortage which won’t take long to overcome at the current rate of economic growth.
@ Only The Facts - “What’s being developed today are weapons systems so advanced that they do not need operators and can seek out and destroy their own targets without any human control.”
Like the AI machines in Matrix who overpower humans?
@ Only The Facts - “Simply, our computer technology cannot be matched, certain not by Russia and those technological disparities are only going to grow.”
It takes less than 30 minutes for a 13 year old hacker with a computer and a modem (from Russia or Asia) to hack advanced security technologies from US companies like Adobe or Microsoft. Know anything about DRM fiasco?
@ Andre - “As for Russia being corrupt, true but the level of corruption is decreasing rapidly (and it is only due to the crisis after the collapse of the USSR)”
Nicely put. Most of Russia’s economic problems and military stagnation started after the collapse of USSR. Despite all these problems and promises, US kept Russia at an arm’s length, treated Russians like enemy and expected Russia to act like its puppet. Well it is a shock to Americans and Mr. Bush that Russians are not used to political or military domination by imperialists, Hitler made the mistake and paid dearly for it. Russia is not a third world West Asia or Africa.
The russians do make some good equipment I admit but name a single conflict in which Russian military hardware has outperformed American hardware.
@ Mossad - There are quite a few of them where Russian weapons beat American ones.
Indo-Pak war of 1971 where India destroyed a third of Pakistani forces relying on American weapons and equipments against India’s Soviet technology.
Korean war of 1953 where American Air Force was beaten back from North Korea by Chinese and Russian forces using Soviet equipments and weapons.
Indo-Pak Conflict of 1999 where India beat back Pakistan’s forces from the Himlayan state of Kashmir. Pakistan Air Force expected a swift victory with it F-16s against India’s Mig-21s and Mig-29s.
I hope it solves your doubts.
Till date the Russian military hardware has not been handled properly by other countries, except the Indians. Indian pilots are second only to the Russian pilots to handle the Russian fighter aircrafts. The Pakistanis failed miserably in all their wars with India even though they had all the latest American military hardwares at the time of war. It does not mean that they are inferior but its because of lack of proper training to use the equipments. The Russian fighter aircrafts have overtook the American fighter aircrafts in the airshows which were held in the recent past. In the past the Russian SU24MR fighters have flew over the U.S aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk during U.S-Japanese naval exercises in the Sea of Japan, evading its radars. They successfully penetrated the air defences of the aircraft carrier force led by the Kitty Hawk. This means that in wartime, the aircraft carrier would have been destroyed. The Russian pilots had flown low over the Kitty Hawk and taken closeup photos of the aircraft carrier. It took the Americans by surprise, pictures clearly showd panic on board Kitty hawk. The Americans were embrassed since it took place during exercises that involved dozens of American and Japanese warships. The Russian action was ‘a planned reconnaissance mission’ according to the Russian air chief. Even in the year 1970 the then Soviet reconnaissance jet, TU-16R, flew low over a U.S.aircraft carrier. The crew of the reconnaissance plane was later awarded the top Soviet award. the Lenin Order, while all senior officers of the U.S. aircraft carrier lost their jobs or were demoted. So in my opinion the Russian military hardware is the best when handled properly.
and besides simple one on one combat, we actually do have ways to transport our aircraft, we call them aircraft carriers and Russia doesn’t have any of those either. you always hear about russian airliners going down, moreso than any other aircraft eventhough they only represent a fraction of all airliners out there. your country is very far behind in aircraft technology when comparing against western powers, particularly the U.S. do a search on plane crashes and count how many are russian, then figure out how many that is as a percentage of all aircraft in russia’s fleet and you’ll start to see what i’m talking about. Russian tech. has always had a rep. of being very low quality in all respects, only reason russia ever became a so called superpower after WWII (which i never agreed with because it was always super poor) was because it had lots of resources that it poured into weapons. The USSR used to starve it’s people to build poor quality military equipment that Afghan villagers used to take down by the hundreds and it eventually ended up collapsing. What a joke “superpower” that was. God bless America you can do nothing you suckers!
Hey just tell me which country had the first satellite in the world? Which country first invented ICBM’s in the world? Which country put its man on space first? The first human being first walked in space? There is only one answer and that is RUSSIA. You Americans use aircraft carriers only to
kill helpless innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq and that too with a help of 10-15 countries along with you. Shame on you being a super power.The Americans won’t fight with an equally strong opponent. They are not brave enough to go on war with Iran or North Korea. Russia faught the Afghan war on its own and not relying on its allys. The cunning Americans along with Pakistanis helped the Afghans in the war. Just remember that the Americans with all the allies support and equipments are losing their war against Afghans and the Iraqis. You should feel ashmed of it. If the countries which purchase the Russian aircrafts don’t maintain it properly then there is no point in critisizing when it crashes. You can’t blame the Russians for poor maintenance. First you are not capable to build a good bridge and provide a safe transport for your public. Just stop boasting about your military technology and think about your country’s remaining bridges whether they are safe. Even God can’t save America as long as people arrogent like you are around there. Be a patriot its good, but don’t think that you the best in the world, if you think so then you are a BIG FOOL.
@ Only the Facts - “..and besides simple one on one combat, we actually do have ways to transport our aircraft, we call them aircraft carriers and Russia doesn’t have any of those either.”
Ah, ignorance isn’t so blissful any more. Perhaps you are not aware of Admiral Kuznetsov (Адмирал Кузнецов) which is I believe, an aircraft carrier in the Russian Navy. Russia had seven carriers during the Cold War, it seemed not to need them any more after 1991 and had them scrapped and sold off. Still one is better than none when it comes to protecting the Pacific Belt off Vladivostok. I hope you have a better opinion of Russian submarines or missiles, your Navy would die to get their hands on Russian SSBNs, SLBMs, mobile ICBM launchers or ABM systems.
@ Only the Facts - “..you always hear about russian airliners going down..”
I am little curious, where do you get your information from? And we had you asking others to see facts, what a pity you could not live up to your own standards. Well, let me see; 8 out of the worst ten air disasters involved American aircrafts. Only one of them was a Russian craft and one was a European. Source Air Crashes Record Office
@ Only The Facts - “..do a search on plane crashes and count how many are russian, then figure out how many..”
I did and the result stands above you. I can almost hear your cursing at the Swiss for making this database and I can feel you fingers itching to type how this source is made by the pacifist Swiss and hence unreliable. I hate to burst that balloon by presenting another source from your own aircraft manufacturer, Boeing. If you check the stats, you’d notice an interesting trends. Boeing and McDonnell Douglas lead all aircraft manufacturers in terms of crashes and fatalities.
@ Only The Facts - “The USSR used to starve it’s people to build poor quality military equipment that Afghan villagers used to take down by the hundreds and it eventually ended up collapsing.”
Your opinion. I am sorry to say that it is not very accurate, but I have full faith you’d do better after a crash course in realistic and non-Fox News version of history.
You stupid INDIAN man, I’m an Afghan-American for your information. My people dropped russian migs from the sky like they were kites using american stinger missles. iraqi’s with all of their russian anti-aircraft weapons couldn’t knock out american planes because they couldn’t see them. one other thing indian, one bridge collapse doesn’t compare to the million train wrecks in india, your infrastructure is one of the worst in the world, at least our streets don’t flood with curry-poop like bombay during monsoon, get a sewage system for god’s sake, or didn’t the brits build that for you?
you other 3rd world lackeys all love russia now but during the cold war, you all begged us to save you from the, don’t forget that. don’t forget we americans are ALPHA MALES and the rest of you are little girls hiding in your mommy’s poop. We can do whatever we want in the world and you girls are simply jealous of that.
telephone, telegraph, television, light bulb, camera, motion picture, nukes, etc. etc.
we’ve invented the most important things of the 20th and 21st centuries other than america?
I tried my best to protect you from embarassing yourself but this leaves me no room for the same now. Being an Afghan-American does not make you superior in any way. The national average IQ of the land of your origin is 84 and a per capita GDP (PPP) of $1,490 a year. I am sure with that kind of poverty and shambles your country was in, you had no choice but to move to greener pastures.
Your insult to G.Vinod is totally unbecoming of you as his nation has a per capita GDP (PPP) $3,737, about three times higher than your country of origin. He is more of a man than your desolate and insulting self, he chose to remain in his own country instead of hiding under someone else’s flag.
Hey you STUPID Afghan American, when you boast that you are a super power you people should set an example to others, be it a singlebridge or what ever it is. I did not compare INDIANS with you STUPID AMERICANS. You Americans bowed to INDIANS on 123 Nuclear pact and agreed to all INDIA’s demands. Without our INDIAN software professionals you AMERICANS will go to hell even with all your infrastructure. You small minded fellows don’t know that about 75-80% of software professionals working in U.S are INDIANS. India is fighting terrorism for the past 20 years and still developing even though the population is higher. But poor Americans fear for everything after the 9/11. We have our own problems like Kashmir and you people dont have any such issues but steal the wealth of the Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia. Shame on you cowards. First you Afghan American man don’t know the fact that during the cold war India was an ally of the Russians and we did not ever beg to your STUPID country (America) for help. The Russians supported India on all our wars with Pakistan. The cunning Americans supported the Pakistanis but we won all the wars with RUSSIAN arms. Iam proud and happy to say the achievements of RUSSIA because RUSSIA is a close ally of INDIA. Last but not the least Iam not bothered whether you are an American or Afghan or Afghan American but you are a TRUE STUPID and you dont know history and current affairs. Get yourself updated first.
“..we americans are ALPHA MALES and the rest of you are little girls hiding in your mommy’s poop.”
No wonder you force your women to wear burkas and imprison them in their homes. Alpha male… Most of what America has is because of European scientists, not you wife-beating and fatwa yelling Afghan immigrants.
First of all I apologise if my remarks against the Afghan-American had disturbed anyone. I don’t understand why some people in the U.S don’t recognise the good achievements of Russia. I have great regards for America and its people and I agree that America is a great power. But they should not think that others are so inferior to them and their comments should not hurt others. They can’t deny that the Russian economy is growing fast and they have started concentrating on modernisation of their weapons and Iam sure that in this world only Russia can challenge the mighty U.S in all fields. We are going to see it in the coming days.
@ G.Vinod - “First of all I apologise if my remarks against the Afghan-American had disturbed anyone.”
I don’t blame you G.Vinod but it is best if you don’t get wound up by such flamers. If he calls someone ’stupid’ or ‘girl’, its does not make them so. I agree that his comments need a check, we may run a clean-up of the comments here to maintain the purpose of the discussion and Only The Facts might face a censor if he is unable to keep a civil language here.
@ Only the Facts - “don’t forget we americans are ALPHA MALES and the rest of you are little girls hiding in your mommy’s poop.”
If you feel you cannot comment without resorting to slander, I suggest you avoid commenting on this site. There are billions of other sites you can spend your leisure on, the internet is large enough for you to browse without ever returning here. If you want to keep commenting here, you can do so as long as you maintain a civil discussion.
@ Only the Facts - “telephone, telegraph, television, light bulb, camera, motion picture, nukes, etc. etc.
we’ve invented the most important things of the 20th and 21st centuries”
On a footnote, none of the inventions you mention are American except nukes which were jointly developed by US with help from British, German and Canadian scientists.
On a footnote, none of the inventions you mention are American except nukes which were jointly developed by US with help from British, German and Canadian scientists.
Prove the above statement Aby, have you ever heard of Edison? Who invented those, names and dates please.
@ Only The Facts - “Prove the above statement Aby, have you ever heard of Edison? Who invented those, names and dates please.”
Edison neither invented the light bulb nor held the first patent, he simply improvised on it and formed a company called General Electric to market it in bulk in the US. I heard of Edison for sure but not as an inventor of the light bulb. We actually deal with facts, Mr.Only The Facts, not popular beliefs.
As for the rest of the inventions, I suggest you do a look up on each of them and see what you come up with. Except nuclear bombs (jointly by US, Canada and UK), none of the above were invented by American scientists. If you find anything on the contrary, you are free to prove me wrong. You came up with the claim that these inventions were done by Americans and the onus lies on you to prove it because everyone who is aware of facts knows that you claim is an opinion, not a fact.
Television: Philo Taylor Farnsworth, American inventor and pioneer in television technology in 1927.
Telegraph: In 1830, an American, Joseph Henry (1797-1878), demonstrated the potential of Sturgeon’s device for long distance communication by sending an electronic current over one mile of wire to activate an electromagnet which caused a bell to strike. Thus the electric telegraph was born. Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872), whose sketches of a “magnetized magnet” in operation are shown here, successfully exploited Henry’s invention commercially.
Light Bulb:It’s true that Edison did not conceive the light bulb but he built a version that actually worked for more than a short period of time and made it commercially available to the entire world, giving the world light. I think that’s pretty significant.
Telephone: On March 10, 1876, in Boston, Massachusetts, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Thomas Watson fashioned the device itself; a crude thing made of a wooden stand, a funnel, a cup of acid, and some copper wire. But these simple parts and the equally simple first telephone call — “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you!”
Atom Bomb: I don’t know about British or Canadian “help”, even if that is true, it’s absolutely known that the title of creator of the Atom Bomb was mostly credited to Oppenheimer (an American). So whatever “help” America received, it was still overwhelmingly an American creation.
Camera: Eastman Kodak invented rolls of film to be used in the worlds first production camera’s that did not need long periods of light exposure. Again, like the lightbulb, he was an inventor who brought the product to the world vs. sitting in front of a camera for 2 hours, which was completely impractical.
Motion Picture: The first patented machine that showed animated pictures or movies was a device called the “wheel of life” or “zoopraxiscope”. Patented in 1867 by William Lincoln, moving drawings or photographs were watched through a slit in the zoopraxiscope.
and here are a few more revolutionary inventions by Americans.
Internet: The Internet and Transmission Control Protocols were initially developed in 1973 by American computer scientist Vinton Cerf as part of a project sponsored by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and directed by American engineer Robert Kahn.
Airplane: Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first plane in America in 1903, this is pretty well known. I know that scientist had dreamed of flying machines for hundreds of years, but this is the first man made machine to fly.
Radio: It can be argued it was either American Tesla or Brit Marconi, but regardless, they both invented their versions about the same time, but most claim Tesla was first and the patent was eventually given to Tesla. Regardless, even if it was a tie, America can still make that claim.
Cell Phone: Dr Martin Cooper invented the first cell phone in 1973
Computers: Although a German invented the first “counting machine”, Americans developed digital technologies for modern computers (which are completely different than vacuum tube computers or the “counting machine”), and the inventors of the personal computers are Steve Jobs (Mr. iPod and iPhone) and Steve Wozniak in 1976.
The list goes on and on. Point is that American scientists and their inventions have had more influence on the modern world than any other country. I’ve mentioned above some of the most important inventions of the 19th and 20th century, and they were all invented by Americans. America is bar none the most technologically advanced nation in the world and has been for the better part of the last century. Other nations like Japan and Western European countries, although also quite advanced and in 2nd and 3rd place respectively, did not pioneer key technologies at the same rate as the U.S.
Don’t worry, I’ll open my own Website about the Swiss Nazi collaboration and stealing of Jewish blood money because unlike your site full of falsehoods about America, my site would be true. Mark my words, I will open a forum about this subject and I will send you the link. One thing I think we have all learned from in the world is don’t mess with the Jews, believe me, they have a vendetta against your little country for it’s Nazi collaboration and it will only be a matter of time before they undermine it and bring it crumbling down. Your little happy country will crumble if they want it to. And I suggest that you don’t even bring up the subject of Jews on this site since it’s usually misunderstood for anti-semitism. you do not want to be a swiss man labeled as an anti-semite. otherwise you’ll have mossad at your door before you know it. how weak and pathetic your are. of course, it makes sense since you are from switzerland and you are used to running away from a fight. it’s ok, everything will be posted on my site, it’ll be up and running within a week, keep your eyes peeled for it. i think i’ll call it www.abythenazi.com. regards collaborator.
I will not pretend, I am amused. Go ahead with your site, I am sure you can rally like-minded ones like you who think Russians live on vodka, Swiss are Nazi pacifists, Indians are smelly barbarians, British are evil imperialists and what not. Believe me, we never censored anything till date except your incessant insults which forced us to put you in moderation queue. We have nothing to lose, readers are smart enough to see what facts are and who is the guy who threatens us and wants to rub off on our site’s popularity.
Russia’s strategic bombers have resumed their cold war practise of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by NATO and the U.S. A Russian bomber TU-95 flew on Wednesday (8/8/07) over a U.S military base on the Pacific island of Guam and “exchanged smiles” with U.S pilots scrambled to track it. It was a cold war tradition of Russian long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet (U.S) aircraft carriers and greet (U.S pilots) visually. Last month Britain’s Royal Air Force scrambled fighter jets to intercept Russian bombers heading towards British airspace. The Russians have regained their confidence and it shows that Russia is not the same weak country of the 1990’s anymore and they are ready to check the U.S and NATO forces.
It’s nice to read enthusiastic comments about my country. But the reality, at least as seen from inside Russia, is a bit more grim. Practically everything that makes us a considirable power is soviet heritage that the new “democratic” Russia has been unable to replace. The recent ecomomic boom didn’t stop Russia from getting smaller and smaller militarily, demographically and geopolitically. Other vital areas such as civil infrastructure, education and public health are still suffering massive degradation with no end in sight. Science, in comparison to soviet times, is practically dead, and brain drain is as strong ever.
Yes, Putin is taking right steps to instill some confidence in his own people as well as project a more powerful image abroad. But this is all thanks to soviet heritage that will run out soon, and the natural, objective place of capitalist Russia in the world hierarchy is much, much lower.I’m really unhappy with this fact, but it looks like the US will rule the World for at least about the rest of this century. With one condition though: that they keep dumbasses like this Afghan-american miles away from their foreigh policy-making.
@ Only The Facts - Sorry, your multiple insults activated the automatic spam filters and threw them in spam. But no worries, we have cleared the rubbish off. As for your claims about you bringing in more visitors, I have to clarify that a large majority of our visitors is from search engines like Google, which I am glad to say, do not rank higher on the basis of swearwords. We are a fact based information site and we are not looking for cheap thrill by flame wars. We will remove all your comments which do not have anything of value to our readers once we are done with our site updates. Swearwords might be normal in your vocabulary but you have to understand that we have children and civilised people visiting here, both from America and elsewhere.
Televison: On December 2, 1922, Edwin Belin, an Englishman, made the first transmission of photographs by wire as well as fiber optics and radar, demonstrated a mechanical scanning device and is considered the first TV transmisson. I assume 1922 is earlier than 1927.
Telegraph: Claude Chappe, a French revolutionary invented the first telegraph which relys on tranmission of optical signals and put it to operation in 1794. Henry developed an electric telegraph in 1830, which was like….36 years after Claude.
Light Bulb: Well then, now you know Edison wasn’t the invetor of light bulb. Any compensation to the old man Aby for the insults?
Atom Bomb: - The atomic bomb was invented by two refugee German scientists in Britain, Professor Rudolph Peierls and Otto Frisch, of Birmingham University. They designed a “blue-print” for making an atom bomb in 1940. Oppenheimer is credited for the Manhattan Project not as the inventor of Atom Bomb.
Camera: Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham), a great authority on optics in the Middle Ages and lived around 1000 on the Gregorian calendar, invented the pinhole camera and which is the frontrunner of all later cameras.
Internet: - The ‘internet’ existed only after the introduction of Web by CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. Before that it was a LAN network, far from being today’s internet.
Airplane: - If Igor Ivanovich, a Russian engineer did not invent the first heavier-than-air airplanes, we would have been still talking of American wright flyers which flew less than 13 metres at the maximum.
Radio: Tesla had the first American patent for the radio. Marconi made the radio itself and the first communication in 1907. If American Patent Office lets someone patent the invention of fire, does it make fire an American invention to the rest of the world?
Computers: - Steve Jobs marketed the Macintosh as a Personal Computer but someone else invented it. Please so a search of history.
It would help if you learn more about the history of science, technology and inventions. If American Patent Office gives patent to someone, it does not mean he/she is the inventor. American Patent Office is hardly a representative of the world, last time I checked, several patents in US offices are made on thousand year old inventions in the rest of the world. Perhaps the next patent would be ‘invention’ of wheels and fire by some American looking for instant fame. And do not expect us to approve every of your essay type reply which is completely irrelevant to the post and inflammatory with swearwords, such as the last few ones. By all means start a new site if you so wish, you do not scare us, nothing can beat clear cold facts and truth. The next time you make a swear based insult, you will face a total ban from this site.
I agree that the capitalist Russia today is not equally powerful to that of the mighty Soviet Union and I have not even visited Russia to know the facts about the way of living in Russia. But through newspapers and media, I am learning about the changes which are taking place in Russia in the past 3-4 years under the strong leadership of President Putin. With the large reserves of gas/petroleum and the booming oil prices, I am sure that Russia will become an economic power by the year 2020. A strong economy and a great nuclear power, Russia cannot be ignored anymore by the U.S if some decisions are to be taken on world affairs. As far as the standard of living in Russia, well the Russian people are clever enough to choose the Government of their choice and they will change the same if the present system is not good.
Only The Facts don’t leave your day job to make the Nazi website. How old are you, like 16? It is because of idiots like you that others look down on us.
I respect Russian people because they have a strong and multi talented intelligent President like Putin. Not like the idiots who elect a Texan bulldozer unable even his own language fluently. We need someone decisive and smart like Putin in America to brinf it out of the mess it is in.
Mr. Facts, one major characteristic of a civilized person is the ability To maintain a civil tongue during an arguement. And in my opinion the fact that swiss people did not participate in any wars doesnt mean that they are cowards, i am rather pleased to know that peaceful nations exist. What “russian” mentioned above is true however the situation is changing. And the fact that russian bears and blackjacks roam the skies again is a sure sign of russian rebirth. No one here is against america mr.facts. But the american media is feeding you bullshit! And its a pity that the american people realized too late that mr.bush is a total incompetent!
Today, the russian national channel released classified video material Of unknown date, the video showed a test of a new vaccum bomb. It was created to compete with the american “mother of all bombs” it doesnt have a name yet but russians call it “father of all bombs” so far it surpasses the american one. First it has a smaller charge, weights less, has a radius of 300 km and is twice more powerful than the american type. One major advantage is that it does not cause any chemical or radioactive pollution.
there are non-americans fighting for USA and non-russians fighting for Russia..funny ain’t it read closer…they arn’t fighting as there is a new world order…
USA is the solitary super power (both militarily and economically) meanwhile Russia( can be called a Military superpower and EU an economic superpower)…in political pull i think USA and Russia are evenly matched..both have veto power in UNSC and have pretty large weapons market just that US has enough green to give big bukks to poor states and use them as buffer states but poorer Russia is not capable of doing that…
My countrymen are divided right down in the middle …Russians are our closest friends but Americans are our brothers (
the same dialog was used by the then Russian premier to describe india and china during chinese aggression of india) not that this matters….however USA are better in just about everything and i think the rest of the world just needs to accept that and do business with them the way China does…
And the title is stupid..Russia is not third world by any stretch of imagination ..need some facts catch hold of a BRIC report..
If ignorance was a bliss I can clearly see one guy here would have been the happiest man on this planet.
@ Mel
Perhaps you should try not to confuse between an exclamation mark (”!”) and a question mark (”?”); if you take a closer look, the title portrays a challenge to the widely held belief that Russia is an economic and military third world. Personally, it is an appropriate title for what contains in the article itself.
hey guys i’m from mongolia. Let me tell you just one thing “the russian military is the strongest and its tehnology far better than american”
Russia is a potential millitary superpower,anyone after U.S. which can claim to be a millitary superpower is without any doubt Russia.
Russia will once again be a millitary superpower in near future.
Another thing i wanted to comment on was the insulting language used by ONLY THE FACTS .
Even if he is an immature guy of 16 or less {commented by bob speaker}that doesn’t give him a license to use abusive language.
I’m myself a teenager and i don’t think doing that in anyway is right.