Humorous article in the WSJ about a Russian professor -- and former KGB analyst -- who's been predicting the collapse of the U.S. in a civil war for a decade now. He thinks it'll happen in 2010.
I think he's dead wrong. Western Civ. is def. in decline and not long of this Earth. And the U.S. is pretty much the last bastion of Western Civ. But I can't see it blowing up in a civil war. Far more likely to slowly fade away, so slowly that each step into the darkness will hardly be noticeable and it'll only be in hindsight that the few left who care enough to think it through will say, "Wow, where did it go?"
Particularly humorous is his idea that Alaska will be rejoined with Russia. I can see the appeal from the Russian standpoint but I can't imagine the Alaskans going without a fight. I'd picture something like Red Dawn fueled by whatever military advantage the part of the U.S. arsenal parked in Alaska would have over the entire Russian army. Which would likely be a considerable advantage: our military technology is light years ahead of just about everybody else's.
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The Alaska claim is pretty hilarious, since Russia is having such a hard time keeping Siberia populated (and out of the vodka bottle) that the Chinese are swooping in the fill the vacuum: http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/12/world/fg-fareast12
You are definitely correct, Tom. Russia is among the countries with the fastest decline in population. It is amusing in the extreme to think that they will suddenly become massivley expansionistic, as opposed to the occasional saber-rattling to prove they're still relevant and provide cover for domestic political problems.
I liked this line in the article you linked: "Russians see that we work so hard and that we have good harvests, and they say we must go away because we prevent them from enjoying being lazy."
I have to say: I, too, don't like it when people prevent me from enjoying being lazy...
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