But Galeotti doesn't stop here, he is so insulted with Russia not fitting his and his "sources" in Russia amateur military clichés that he reaches to a good ol' desperate "argument" of an economy:
Yet Putin is aware that the objective indicators do not help him make his case that Russia, with an economy smaller than that of Texas, should be treated as one of the great world powers. Instead, he relies on bluff and bluster, theater and shadow play.
He wants to project an image of a dangerous yet confident country, one that should be placated, not challenged. Hence, the pictures we’ll soon see of tanks rumbling across the steppe as rockets, drones, and gunships roar overhead are part and parcel of a campaign to make Russia (look) great again.
Obviously this "argument" of Texas "having economy larger than that of Russia" is another self-medicating delusion popular among people like Galeotti and his ilk of "analysts" because it is needed to relieve the pain.
What is this pain?
Well, among many other things is feeling (for smarter ones—it is understanding) of being uneducated frauds. Consider this, Galeotti uses this tabloid level trash to compare Russia and Texas:
But whereas Russia’s economy is highly dependent on exports of oil and petroleum products, the Texas economy is broadly diversified. The state ranks first in the U.S. for not only oil production but also wind energy. It has a robust agricultural sector, and it’s a leading hub for advanced technology and manufacturing, aeronautics, biotechnology and life sciences. Austin, the state capital, is steadily emerging as the most dynamic U.S. filmmaking city outside of Hollywood.
Obviously the fact that Texas is highly integrated into overall US economy somehow escapes those Forbes' "analysts" as well as understanding of the fact that once "separated" from the US proper all this Texan high opinion of themselves will have to face a very hard landing.
As an example, when mentioning aeronautics, Forbes' "experts", of course, forget that Texas only hosts aeronautical industry and infrastructure which is FEDERAL, such as NASA, that is all-American and without all those other "aerospace" places in US, from Everett in WA, to North Carolina to Chicago, among many, Texas alone will not be able to sustain all those wonderful things Forbes lists.
Of course, when compared militarily—I wonder how Texas will try to arrange moving of the Newport News or Electric Boat to, say Corpus Christie, to count itself also as a naval power.
It will be also fascinating to observe how Texas will produce on its own things of the complexity of GLONASS, S-500, let alone Yasen-class SSGN or will have own space program.
This is not to mention the fact that Galeotti never heard of such thing as CINC and the structure of GDP, not to mention PPP (Purchase Power Parity) which make Texas economically a midget compared to Russia. Well, except for film-making, I am sure.
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