Russia A Regional Power: Yes But What Region Mr. Obama?

At a press conference yesterday at The Hague, Netherlands, ABC White House correspondant, Jonathan Karl, asked "Mr. President, . ... In China, in Syria, in Egypt, and now in Russia we've seen you make strong statements, issue warnings that have been ignored. Are you concerned that America's influence in the world -- that your influence in the world -- is on the decline? And in light of recent developments, do you think Mitt Romney had a point when he said that Russia is America's greatest geopolitical foe, if not Russia, who?" President Obama responded, Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors — not out of strength, but out of weakness. ... Karl's question was a truly good one but he missed a golden opportunity for a follow-up. If Russia is only a 'regional power' then what region would that be? Russia covers 11 time zones and 1/9th of the earth’s land area. It reaches from the North Pole to the Black Sea and from the well into the European continent in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. With 6,592,800 square miles of territory, it is 1.7 times larger than the second largest country, Canada, and its 3,855,100 sq miles of land. Russia has close ties in the western hemisphere with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Columbia. According to RIA Novosti, a leading Russian news outlet, “Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia is looking to build military bases in Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Seychelles, Singapore and several other countries.” So my follow-up question to Mr. Obama would have been, “And what region is that, exactly Mr. President?” The answer to that question would certainly be interesting wouldn’t you agree?