I enjoyed your original article and largely agree with you regarding what Putin "thinks". But as I noted, I think the world is living in the past. People still fear population growth, when the greater threat is population collapse.

Japan and China are at the forefront of this collapse along with most of Euorpe.

China's "one child" policy has led to their nation aging at the fastest rate in the world and they may soon catch up with Japan and become the "oldest nation" on earth.

Whether China invades Taiwan remains to be seen. But if Taiwan resists, and the Chinese lose hundreds of thousands of "only sons". The political ramifications in China will reverberate and could lead to the collapse of the current government. Nowhere is family continuity more important than China.

Likewise, America is losing population and while I don't support illegal immigration. I do support amnesty for illegal immigrants with proven track record of "good citizenship" since arriving here and increasing our legal immigration quotas to the level needed to maintain the size of our workforce (not necessarily grow it).

With increased immigration, will come the challenges of assimilation. We must assimilate different people groups into the fabric of American society rather than the recent trend to promote separate identities. The greatest challenge for America will be to forge a nation from an increasingly diverse population. Sadly our politicians see to much "short term" benefits in stoking internal strife.

How countries replenish their work forces will determine their economic viability going forward. Most of the world will experience the economic decline that Japan has. Russia is likely to be one of those countries.