"The Russian authorities understand the country is doomed to be the kind of power that needs military might," said Ruslan Pukhov, director of Moscow-based military think tank CAST.
"'Soft power' doesn't work for us. We need people to be afraid of us and we seem to be unable to find a proper substitute for military power," he said.
Oh darn. I missed the cute and cuddly phase of their foreign policy? Was I in the kitchen getting a beer, or something?
Anyway. However long this theoretical phase lasted, the Russians look forward to ending it with real power to inspire real fear. They could use it to bolster ties with less than democratic states that want armed help:
Russia sees martial might as a key factor in boosting its influence in oil and gas-producing Central Asia, wedged in between China, Afghanistan, Iran and the Caspian Sea.
"They would like to have more influence in that region. They have interests there and they are pursuing those interests," said Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior analyst at military and public sector think tank CNA.
Late last month Russia led several former Soviet Central Asian states through training exercises on Russian territory which culminated in the mock liberation of a town from rebels.
Eyeing the possibility of Arab Spring-like uprisings there or the kind of ethnic violence that rocked Kyrgyzstan last year, Moscow believes military might will give regional leaders reason to strengthen alliances with Russia.
Sure. When you've adopted a policy of defending your own sons of bitches, you want the power to make good on your promises.
It's funny, when countries that don't have hard power rely on soft power, people here swoon over how smart they are and how inexpensive it would be to replace our hard power military with that soft power. These people never notice that as soon as a country has enough hard power, they relegate soft power to the dust bin of history. Not that soft power can't be important. But it pales in comparison to the hard power that inspires fear or inspires confidence.
