Oh, and cyrillic is an alphabet. Cyrillic is not a language.
Russian is the language of Russia. It is predicated in the cyrillic alphabet. Saint Cyril brought it to Russia from Greece. It traces to the hieroglyphs of Egypt. Etruscians and Romans took the Greek alphabet which slanted sharply to the right to straighten it up and squared it away to what we've had and used since.
Thought I'd square you away on this too. Squaring you away is somebody's full time assignment but I only dabble in it from time to time. So when I think of your posts and the Roman (Latin) alphabet that English has I think of two letters, f and u.
Russia Enters a Treacherous New Post-Arms Control World
February 4, 2019
A resolution to the US and Russia’s mutual accusations of INF non-compliance is presently improbable. In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev signed this arms control treaty in order to pull the Soviet Union out of its unsustainable confrontation with the West. Whereas, today, the Putin regime is convinced that such a confrontation is a necessary precondition for its own continued existence. “Patriotic” mobilization is the only means of explaining away Russia’s economic decline; therefore, Moscow is actively willing to generate new conflicts. Nevertheless, public discontent is still spreading, and a recent opinion poll showed a big increase—to 45 percent compared with 28 percent a year earlier—in the feeling that the country is on the wrong course.
Putin seems convinced that any step back from his defiant stance as the challenger of US dominance will be interpreted — by the domestic audience, by Western adversaries and by China — as proof of his weakness. He cannot believe that missiles are no longer a useful instrument of politics, but his posturing makes a weak impression and his bluffs are frequently dismissed as irrelevant. Russia has gained some advantages by breaking the various rules of international behavior. But it will probably find itself at great disadvantage in the harshly competitive environment where many habitual rules no longer apply. It has ardently contributed to undermine the arms control regime and will now have to deal with the potentially dangerous consequences.
Russia Enters a Treacherous New Post-Arms Control World - Jamestown
As Gen. Scaparroti's successor, Gen. Wolters plus Army Gen. Milley as incoming CFCS are well aware -- and prepared -- to deal with the fact Putin is "actively willing to generate new conflicts." Admiral Richardson the CNO knows the US on the seas must become more muscular in the new world disorder. Nato SecGen Stolenberg is an effective coalition leader who is fully on board. The present generation of the new military commanders and civilian chiefs are prepared to choose their time, situation and circumstance, the Russian asset(s) and the maximum gain to the alliance. Trump is pursuing China trade which is his priority. The Pentagon and allies are developing the offset to Putin's Russia to include Beijing's bellicosity. These are complementary and they suggest the road ahead, i.e., new and clear front lines that are state to state.
