Peter, I liked the second part of the article, but in the first part, you dwell too much on our old Russian style of feeling we have to point by point, like in a court of law rebut every charge against us. We need be far more positive as a nation now, Putin did a great job as the rebuilder, Medvedev as the civic developer. We don't need answer to anything, or anyone, we just need be equal partners to other nations, who want good relations with us, and be aware of the opposition approach and tactics, then play our own game to win. The world and Russia, has been doing far too much watching the other team play, rather than playing the game to win. It's time to snap out of watching team USA, get the puck and start moving it around where we want it. It's lucky they haven't found the back of the net whilst we all have been Obama watching. But lets wake up, push across the blue line and get people around their net, to drive the puck home. Its game on!

Everything Biden said, as untimely and inappropriate they may have been, is absolutely FACTUALLY true. Russia's long term prospects are depressingly gloomy. And it's actually a joke that Russia is so keenly including itself in the so called BRIC countries...because Brazil, Inda and China are not even in the same league. Across all data, their future is looking bright ... Welcome to reality, folks. Truth always does hurt...

The American Vice President's comments are truly monumental in their stupidity. I think Russians have considerably more intellect when it comes to current affairs. There is something I would like to introduce to the debate. Mr Gorbachev made a statement recently which I think is most intuitive and timely. Don't quote me but he said something to the effect "it is time for YOUR perestroika...." I know he is somewhat reviled in Russia but in the West the man's comments are held in high regard so perhaps someone will listen. Of course what he is saying is that the strategies of the past need to be revised as clearly they are not working. Clearly there needs to be reconstruction in the West, things are not perfect and no western country can stand on a pedestal and preach about how to do things anymore. Indeed, from my time in Russia I understand very well the "irritation" of Russians being preached at by foreign visitors, diplomats and business people about how to do things. Madoff did things, Enron did things. Fannie May, AIG and Big Banks did things. The Securities Commission didn't. The financial crisis which has hit all countries of their world is not an easy and quick McDonalds gratification fix. All countries have nuances of exposure to the deep-rooted problems and will have different methodologies to attack the problem. For Russians what could be more annoying than having to listen to a US Vice-President cast aspersions on Russian financial housekeeping when the US has not only caused the crisis but is lecturing atop a high horse that is perhaps terminally ill. Pompous behavior, the very behavior that led to the downfall of The Roman Empire and many other imperial power bases over the course of history. Mr. Biden is an old man and is perhaps comfortable with Reagan-Gorbachev times. A generation ago Russia moved on and consequently the World is now a different place. Most foreigners fail to understand that the collapse of the USSR was not a sudden thing and it was Mr Gorbachev's draconian policies throughout the 1980's that paved the way for its demise. Mr. Biden is actually more in tune with Léonid Ilitch Brejnev who was perhaps the last real representative of an era past. I wonder if Mr Reagan could be brought back to meet Gorbachev in 2009 what they both might collectively say to Mr. Biden...."what year are you living in"?

It seems like Obama and Biden are playing the good cop and bad cope game. Obama travels to Russia to talk reset buttons and mutual interests. That is followed up by Biden's outdated rhetoric and storking the heads of yuschenko and saako, his faithful little guys.

Peter, I agree with Count Cash, why must you defend Russia point for point?? Like an accused criminal? The article would have been perfect with simply: Biden is a pensioner whose mind wonders like the wind. The best person to listen to in America is Gates. He is the real president of America, nobody second guesses him. And there’s nothing to discuss, America is the one shedding half a million jobs every month, not Russia. p.s. Russia needs to get out of the G8 asap, they’re alone with those vultures.

I never understood Russia's logic in mass immigration from Central Asia and Caucusas region of Muslims into Russia that pose a huge security threat. Is a demographic decline really so bad when the global economy is shrinking? A large population like in China or India or the US for that matter which has large immigrant and ethnic populations are in more serious trouble than Russia apart from the fact of western backed terrorism and organised crime. The message I got from Biden and the establishment about the “reset” is that it is worthless they have no intention of cooperation or even friendly dialogue with Russia. Russia is the enemy like the Serbs before hand and must be under a system of western control like there 1917 coup and there transfer government in the 90’s where they contrived a policy starting in 79 for dismantlement of Russia through internal warfare, crime and massive shift in population ethic a religious demographics to carve of US friendly Muslim mini-states with help from western aligned Oligarchs in Russia and connections to military personal and elements in Russian intelligence. The former Yugoslavia was the testing ground and prototype for Russia. This is the guy who said “Serbs are illiterate degenerates, baby killers, butchers and rapists” and “all Serbs should be placed in Nazi-style concentration camps”.

In response to Kobe Jengston. Yes you are right. Russia is not in the same league as the BRIC countries. Might I suggest you and others that share your perceptions of Russia google "Colours of Russia" and watch the video. Then rejoin the debate and give the readership some informed answers to these questions. 1. If Russia is in a terminal decline (as is often fronted by foreigners) why do Swedish, British, French, German, Italian...... and US companies continually build, expand and expose their operations in Russia. Patently they must be stupid by your analysis. Do you have any concept of the purchasing power of the Russian middle class, do you even know it exists? India, China and Brazil have it...hallelujah! What a revelation. How is it I could take hundreds of images of average Russian people driving better cars than I see here in North America? To prove the point I stood at a junction in St Petersburg and set up a tripod fixed on the first vehicle waiting to turn. I photographed for half an hour. The lineage of quality vehicles that passed in front of my lens surpassed what I see in most cities here. Why? If what you outline is true then this is one hell of a mirage I witnessed. By the way, I saw the same thing in many other cities and smaller towns. Why is IKEA so successful in Russia but has relatively few stores in Canada. Is a suburb of Moscow more affluent than Victoria BC? Clearly the CFO at IKEA thinks so. I suppose they like building Mega Malls in Russia for the hell of it. No. investing in some of the largest shopping developments in the World is done because there is an economy and an army of willing purchasers who, incidently, don't drive Nanos. 2. Why are the well dressed happy, confident Russian in my pictures there at all. Surely they would be impossible to take in a country you describe in such decline. Surely such an underprivileged populous would be rebelling in the streets and leaving in droves. It is not happening. I wonder why? I have numerous stories, first hand, of Russians returning to work in Russia after the disappointment of being abroad. Then there is the evidence of my pictures. 3. Why are your views absolutely contrary to the expert business people I know and regularly meet in Moscow who have first hand knowledge of the Russian economy? 4. How many foreign corporations assemble their products in Kaliningrad? 5. Does BMW assemble vehicles in Canada, Brazil, India, China or Russia? 6.. How long have you lived in Russia in order to base your expert balanced assessment of affairs? 7. Why are there "no go" areas in a significant number of British and American cities, a phenomenon non-existent in metropolitan Russia. I am talking here of the gang-ridden places that even the police avoid and certainly you don't walk in at night unless you want a fix. I read the comment from C. Cash about taking the courtroom defensive on such ill-informed comments. As a foreigner who knows Russia well I tend to want to fight the misinformation I see about Russia. To be honest after 5 years of it, I am getting tired of regurgitating the same replies. I absolutely understand why my Russian friends no longer try or give a damn. Is it really worth it? Perhaps it is better to ignore foreign views totally. This is actually not a bad idea. I mean how long can you keep giving the stupid kid a chance to learn before they are finally put in the class for the mentally challenged. The best image I have seen to describe these sentiments came from a Russian IT specialist, it is a picture of a bear sitting with its back to the observer, ignoring everyone. The annotation I cannot quote but suffice to say it equally reflects in it's negativity towards a westerner ever understanding Russia. Well, fortunately some of us foreigners do. Me and IKEA, BMW, DHL.C&A, Marks and Spencer, Ralph Lauren, Boeing, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Vogue, Rolling Stone, OBI, Mars, Renault, Mazda, Lexus, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Elton John. Frank Stronach, Angela Merkel...... Its time to wake-up or be left with the Cold-War, Last Century, Russophobic dinosaurs -- Michael Hockney Artistic Director and Principal Photographer The Studio of Michael Hockney www.michaelhockney.com

"The reality is the Russians are where they are. They have a shrinking population base, they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years, they're in a situation where the world is changing before them and they're clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable." Now without the "shrinking population base" (and only for now I'd say, for population follows the economy..) Mr. Biden is describing very accurately the US reality. Why is it Peter that so often Western (and particularly Anglo-American) media and politicians confuse wishful thinking with reality. This is a real problem in our global village I think and unless we learn to see, and acknowledge, reality as is, rather than what we want/need it to be, we're in for a lot more trouble than the current economic crisis. Personal view, you can agree or disagree.

Peter, I think, Biden put different meaning in his words... and you just got it wrong :-) "The reality is the Russians are where they are.[Good thing considering the Russia's troubled past] They have a shrinking population base [Also, good thing, considering shrinking world economy and relatively young Russian population, especially comparing with Japan, Europe, and the US], they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years [Meaning those things will be replaced with something better], they're in a situation where the world is changing before them [Meaning, it is falling down] and they're clinging to something in the past [Meaning, still standing on some relatively stable spot they found] that is not sustainable.[Meaning, they will move forward soon]" So, as you see, Biden, as some other American politicians, is firmly holding his finger on the "reset button".

Ah yes, 'foreign affairs expert' Joe Biden has some thoughts on Russia's declining fortunes. Ignore him. He is well on his way to returning the Vice Presidency to it's historic irrelevance. Clearly the man has no sense of irony. I wonder if China will respond to declining American power any more generously than America responded to declining Russian power. Russia's weakness was exploited ruthlessly. Aside from population growth, every charge made by Biden could easily be applied to the United States. Like I said, the man has no sense of irony. That brings me to something else. Peter writes: "The fact is Washington – people like Biden – is engaging in a counter-offensive to maintain American influence in someone else’s security backyard. The Bush people backed the losers known as Yushchenko and Saakashvili and Biden appears to have not learned the definition of the word stupidity. The definition of stupidity is the inability to learn. Meddling in someone else's backyard does create some very serious security risks." Like Biden, Peter seems to have missed the irony of his own comments. How is U.S. meddling in Russia's 'backyard' any worse than Russia's meddling in the sovereign states of the so called near abroad. I gain nothing from the endless imperial struggles of a few powerful people. In fact I lose quite badly. We all do. As in the First World War, we could easily end up dying in the millions over the dynastic quarrels of a few wealthy and powerful families. That's the whole point. Leaders on all sides want a pliant public so that they may entrench themselves in power and simultaneously enrich their friends. I would say stupidly is thinking that your mafia is any different from my mafia.

Biden's comments about Russia’s banking and financial system are most amazing. Considering that American federal budget deficit this year is $1.85 trillion, it grows each day by $3.89 billion, 52 American banks have collapsed this year and $1.5 trillion was spent to rescue the other banks.

"Meanwhile the US banks, that look like they are presently sitting on a mountain of excess reserves, know the real truth and are not making loans. Besides, why should they when they can borrow from the FED at ¼% and then buy Treasuries yielding 21/2% to 4 % with the Treasuries as collateral and no overhead or carrying costs and especially NO RISK and no reserves required? The Carry Trade for American Banks has been reborn. " So the govmt borrows from the banks, the banks borrow from the state and the taxpayers pay the interest.. Good business - I am glad I don't pay tax... Hmmm I wonder if the Russian way is not a little bit better..??

The EU is the place of the pliant, robotic corpses, with their cultures and nationhoods, blended together like a bad tasting soup, topped up from the jug of socialism, to keep just enough liquid existence, so that is doesn't all boil dry. The juice of existence, stolen along with sovereignty, from the likes of Germany, Italy and France ..., who are kept sedated while the transfusion of juices to support the parasites is extracted. The US and Russia are not soups of human medeocracy like the EU. They are like most other countries true sovereign states, with an identity.and a direction to develop their nations and their people, as a single strong homogenous unit. US and Russian citizens have identity, look for leadership and are part of a team. The EUSSR, like all failed unions, needs pliant citizens, the US and Russia needs strong citizens. The problem for the US is that Wall street needs weak citizens to financially farm, and there is no protection for them. So this is where they lose their way. There is no separtaion of powers for the power of money and the other organs of government. Sphere of influences is actually a western creation, practiced by the west. Like in all matters, they accuse others of doing what they are doing themselves, to deflect attention from what their activities are. All states, do not want military build ups on their borders, it was the reason for the Cuban missile crisis, it was the reason for the CFE agreement, it was the reasion for DMZ in Korea. Backyards is a western creation, not Russian, Not having offensive weaponary on borders, is a global invention and has nothing to do with the western sphere of influence creative terms. It is just military reality. The west has a habit of inventing things, attributing them to Russia, then complaining about them. This is the role of the western propagandist press.

In response to Michael Hockney. Mike, Pls accept my sincere admirations! I can't say I've seen very often somebody defend the Truth so passionately. The picture of the bear sitting with its back to the observer actually represents very well not only Russians, but the rest of us, poor non-westerners in this world. To continue with the metaphor, don't you think it will actually be a carefree bear life if it truly stopped .."giving a damn" rather than just pretending? Isn't the West's greatest achievement in fact teaching the rest of the world to care about the western opinion?

The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from World War II as the world's superpowers. What Mr. Biden does not understand at all is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, so did the paradigm of US power. Now something else is emerging. It is really very, very simple in essence, but one can forgive Mr. Biden for not getting it; most people don't. Most of our politicians are IDEOLOGICAL, usually religious zealots on some level. They start with the notion that they are right, so they cannot learn anything. This is not usseful for them in a time of great change on a global scale.

I was so surprised by the recent comments by US vice president Joe Biden in Georgia(with his American educated friend Sakashvili)about Russian aging population and economy,that Russian banks will face a big crisis within 10-15 years......!! Everybody impressed be lot more by Mr. Biden's "FAR VISION",if he told to his countrymen,I mean US people about coming Finicial crisis in USA.(which hurted almost every country in the planet)

To Aleksandar Hranov Alex, Thank you for your comments, though I am not the person to thank. The real people to hold up high are the many hundreds of Russians that have educated me while I have been in Russia. These are the real experts. No text book could teach the truth that these ambassadors of modern Russia can give you. What to me is so amazing is that foreign news find this so difficult and rarely ask a Russian, an expert or otherwise, for their opinion. It is always some overseas analyst sitting in front of a backdrop of The Kremlin. Sometimes it is night, usually it is cold and gray, never sunny. How many times have I sat watching the BBC TV in Moscow reporting “Live” from Moscow, funny?....it was sunny when I walked in here 5 minutes ago. Why is Red Square all gray? Worst still, they drag up every overseas activist and fugitive criminal and give them all the airtime they need to grind their respective axes against the elected officials representing The Russian People. Sorry, but to me this is absolutely absurd and disrespectful. What is so difficult about getting an informed Russian to tell it like it is. How hard can it be to call from a BBC or CNN newsroom and get The Kremlin Press Office to arrange an interview with “the experts”, the elected policy and law- makers of The Russian Federation and their respective ministries. No, everything is seeped in some strange mysticism to wash a sinister aura over the proceedings. A Canadian news crew only a couple of weeks ago managed to report from Red Square in a way that made it totally unrecognizable. Trust me, that is a very hard thing to accomplish in one of the most beautiful squares in the world. But it is more than that. Two years ago I was in St Petersburg and happened across Tom Clancy of CNN reporting from the Winter Palace about life in Russia. I slowed down and adopted a “spy” position and listened to what I could of his preparation. I was alarmed. I watched the report later that evening and I had reason to be concerned. The report was on modern Russia and consumerism. The cameras faced the Palace facade and occasionally panned to the trivia of street artists and performers. This was all they showed. Clancy interviewed tourists and some Russians but the substance was centered on the concept that Russia has just left Soviet times and discovered the free market economy. No luxury cars were shown, neither were the sea of shining lesser European models driven by middle class Russians; you would have to be blind not to notice the vehicles in St Petersburg. I mean really, isn’t the car what Americans judge you by? Somehow it had slipped their minds and creative spirit that the best way to show modern Russia to the World and people back home would have been to send the news crew filming down Nevsky Prospekt. A couple of cameras driving for ten minutes from top to bottom would have captured everything there is to say about modern Russia and consumerism, in a nutshell. Nevsky Prospekt, for those that don’t know is the main boulevard that has just about every convenience, shop and hotel you could think of. It is vibrant, colorful, youthful and “in-your-face” when it comes to demolishing foreign perceptions of Russia. It was a stones throw from the CNN entrenchment. My point is CNN news crews are not stupid, someone made the conscious decision NOT to show Nevsky. It would be akin to a TV producer covering the funeral of Princess Dianna not showing the sea of flower bouquets in front of Buckingham Palace. Fired! This censorship through ineptness or ignorance I really don’t have too much problem with. At least the report was trying to be upbeat however miserably it failed to show reality. At the very least, it’s a step-up from what Mr. Biden would have us believe. Michael Hockney Artistic Director and Principal Photographer Colours of Russia

Michael Hockney, I am impressed, you have not only talked to the Bear, you have listened, and also looked around. The messages you say, need to come from people like you, who have bothered to come, bothered to find out, and who have the integrity and conviction to stick to and say the truth. The manipulations and distortions of the western press are self evident to any who bother to check the story. Maybe its your background as an artist that gives you the need and ability to take the photo first hand, for what is a secondhand touched print.

Mr Biden tells us that Russia has a withering economy that’s a bit rich from a man who represents a country that is 13 trillion dollars in debt and whose GDP is reliant on internal consumption. As we all know real national wealth is based on what a country can produce and sell to others only 25% of the US GDP is production based the other 75% is based on borrowing and consuming goods they can’t pay for. Russia is rich in oil gas metals and minerals the prices will bounce back very soon and Russia’s economy will begin to grow again. This global crisis has been a wake up call for Russia I am sure they will speed up diversification of the economy. Long term the future is bright for Russia.