Originally Posted by
Azathᴏth
Well this is stupid. Even in a hypothetical scenario, I can't imagine where America and Russia would have a direct, full scale conflict. Russia is mostly a frozen wasteland and has always triumphed because no invading force could ever withstand Russia's cold winters. America will be no exception. Times and technology may have changed, but the human body, and how well it fares under sub-zero temperatures, has not. Russia, should it invade the US, has to face a hostile populace armed to the teeth. In a population of 311 million as of 2011, and a gun owner population of about 80 million, a quarter of the population is armed. There are 300 million firearms distributed among those 80 million gun owners, of which 100 million are handguns. That's a lot of guns. And makes the idea of conquest or war on American soil...unappealing. Now that we've considered those factors, let's not forget the fact that either force has to cross a body of water, hundreds, if not thousands of miles in width. That eliminates any element of surprise as we'll see each other coming before we're a hundred miles from land. Think D-Day.
Even if either force tried to invade through Alaska, they would be seen coming. Worst case scenario, Russia get's Alaska back, and we'll probably bomb the shit out of them and drive them out. I don't think they'll just trek through Canada to the Continental US. If we invade Russia via Bering Strait, we have to trek through Siberia, then cross the Ural Mountains, to get the European half of Russia, the important half.
Nuclear war is a highly unlikely scenario. In this day and age, nuclear arms are mostly deterrents, not actual weapons to be used in conflict. Furthermore, both countries are members of the NPT, aka Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This treaty includes most countries today. The second pillar of the NPT is disarmament. So the amount of nukes we have stockpiled is going down, not up. Needless to say, on of the requisites of treaty is to not use nuclear weapons. So if somebody does, they'll find a whole lot of frowns and nukes pointed in their direction.
Conclusion: The chances of a full scale, direct conflict between Russia and the US are next to nothing.