U.S. Must Turn to Russia to Contain China
Vladimir Putin stands accused in the media and global public opinion of rigging his recent reelection, imprisoning his political enemies, murdering Russian spies turned double-agent, meddling in Western elections, seizing Crimea, destabilizing Ukraine, supporting a murderous dictator in Syria and exporting arms to terrorist nations like Iran.
At the same time, the country of Russia is more than Mr. Putin, despite his authoritarian and heavy-handed methods. Russia is the world’s 12th-largest economy, with a GDP in excess of $1.5 trillion, larger than many developed economies such as Australia (No. 13), Spain (No. 14) and the Netherlands (No. 18).
Its export sector produces a positive balance of trade for Russia. Russia has not had a trade deficit in over 20 years. Russia’s oil output has dropped to a three year-low after concerns about contaminated oil, but it’s still one of the world’s top three oil producers, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Russia has the largest landmass of any country in the world and a population of 146.8 million people, the ninth largest of any country. Russia is also the third-largest gold-producing nation in the world
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