Russia has the world’s second most powerful military among the G20 countries, losing only to the United States, according to a joint study of the Valdai International Discussion Club and the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM).
"Russia is the world’s second most powerful country in the world after the United States, the number of policemen in Russia is quite good. On the other hand, if we look at the level of police confidence, Russia is the second to last in the ranking of the G20 countries," the head of social modeling and forecasting at VCIOM research department Julia Baskakova said.
Experts analyzed the development of the situation in the G20 countries in terms of security and sovereignty, relying on several criteria: military capacity, the number of police officers and the trust of the population of the police, criminal statistics, indicators of the level of terrorism, and subjective assessments of personal security, RIA Novosti reported.
According to preliminary results, Russia ranked 14-15th in security.
A military observer of the TASS news agency, retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Russia's leadership in the military sphere is still provided at the expense of the nuclear arsenal. "We and the US have 93% of the world's nuclear weapons stockpiles, which gives us a huge advantage over the rest of the world. The US has a little more, we have a little less, but there is still a balance. Nuclear weapons determine the strength and power of any army, so we were ranked second, although we are third in terms of finances that the state invests in the development of the army and defense: the US spends $640 billion, China - about $150-170 billion, and we - only $60-70 billion," he stressed.
"Now we are actively updating our nuclear missile shield, strategic nuclear forces and naval forces, which we have necessary and sufficient to reliably protect our national interests," Viktor Litovkin added.
The development of the military sphere allows us to solve both external and internal tasks. "The external is the security of our state and the readiness to repel any aggression. Internal ones is respect for the army, the confidence in the protection against external threats," the retired colonel concluded.
The deputy director of the Political and Military Analysis Institute, Alexander Khramchikhin, also pointed to the combination of legacy and active modern work of the authorities as a factor of Russian military leadership in the world. "Russia did not fall out of the top three military powers even in the most difficult times at the expense of the Soviet legacy, and now considerable efforts have been invested in the defense to renew and restore military power," he said.
The expert drew attention to the fact that the protection of the sovereignty of the state is a necessary task. "The defense of sovereignty is the economic function of the armed forces. Alas, there is a standard liberal view of the armed forces as a parasitic thing, but it is fundamentally wrong. The armed forces exist to prevent the economic damage caused by external aggression. This is apart from the fact that the military-industrial complex is the only modern branch of our industry," Alexander Khramchikhin summarized.
