Russian economic and demographic trends look a lot worse than anything the US has ever faced in it's admittedly short history. It's population is below that of Bangladesh and continues to fall. It's birth rate is well below replacement, and it is worse for ethnic Russians than for other groups in the Federation. The only growth population in Federation are Muslims, and this does not bode well for internal stability. The male life span for ethnic Russians is only 58 years, fully a decade less than Soviet times.
Economically, Russia is on a par with Spain at $1.6 trillion USD nominal GDP. In terms of per-capita GDP, Russia is number 52 ( lets be fair, the US is number 15 and the oft maligned France is number 16, with Luxembourg as top dog ) with a nominal per-capita GDP of $11.8K, right behind Barbados at $13.4K ( now there's a world power ! ). Spain by comparison has a per-capita GDP of $35.3K. Russia does not have the economic might to sustain itself as a nuclear power for long. It will continue to claim a nuclear arsenal, but as time passes at Russia's low level of economic output ( and budgetary authority ) the effectiveness of that nuclear arsenal will decline, as will the quality of the rest of it's fighting forces.
Russia doesn't have a consumer manufacturing sector to speak of. Tell us what products you buy from Russia? Cars? A Lada? Don't make me laugh. They aren't a player in any significant consumer market. All they have to offer are natural resources. This is a two edged sword. Take Mexico as an example, also Iran and Venezuela. Extractive industries like oil and natural gas require continuous investment of very large amounts of money to find and develop new fields. But, governments with resource based economies do not have other sources of revenue so they rely on resource revenue to fund the government. Mexico obtains only 9% of it's revenue from taxes, the rest comes from Pemex. It is much the same for any resource dependent nation. By taking revenues from oil and gas these nations typically end up starving their main revenue generator for investment funds, causing a decline in output. This is happening in Iran and Mexico now. Plus, these governments ride a boom and bust cycle that makes it impossible to maintain stable funding for important government programs.
Russia will have to greatly diversify it's economy away from it's reliance on resources and greatly increase it's GDP from these new industries before I will quake in my boots over the perceived "Russian threat". Just my two cents.
Here are my two cents. Russia has superior skilled labor and know-how than nations like Bangladesh, Mexico, Iran, Venezuela. Russia also has a much more capable military than any of these nations. Russia's power projection has been greatly limited, but Russia is on the same continent or land as Europe and many other nations. Russia will never be a superpower like the USSR (thank God for the end of colonialism and communism, real communism, not fake communism), but Russia will still be a world power. Comparing Russia to Spain is ridiculous. Russia has a lot more influence than Spain. Russia still has a lot more nukes and arguably a superior conventional military. Russia still has much more economic influence. The EU sure has to pay attention to whether or not Russia is going to supply them with gas and oil. Russia still has more political heft in international relations. Russia is a lot more corrupt than Spain, but this is one feature Russia doesn't need. Russia has a growing Muslim population, but the same can be said about Europe. If Russia and other nations can persuade Muslims, Jews, and Christians to only follow a moderate interpretation, then the world would be a lot less screwed up.
Russia has an aging population, but so does Europe, China, South Korea, Japan, blah blah blah. America's population is balanced, but a lot of this has to do with legal and illegal immigration from the border America shares with Mexico, but nonstop immigration is nowhere near the best solution to deal with aging. It has its pros and cons, which is now more evident than ever with the international economic downturn. Nonchalant population growth may be bad idea for the future. A balance of quality and quantity in population seems to be the path towards living quality.
Most importantly, Russia seems to have clearly learned to stay away from communism. I have never been to Russia, but from what I have seen in pictures and testimonies, today's Russia is a lot more livable than yesterday's Russia. Russia does not need to be America's enemy.
America's greatness partly depends on international trade and a stable world order. If Russia destabilizes, then this could cause major economic, nuclear, and political problems throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, which will spread to other regions such as America. You may be rooting for the fall of Russia, and foolishly think it is patriot, but I'm not. I think it is obvious America should stay away from national breakdowns like what is occurring in the wars in the Middle East, but then there are people like Bush, Wolfowitz (sp?), Pelosi, Obama, and so on who think things are swell in the wars in the Middle East. However, these people make a career off of these crises, but the American people and other people sure aren't benefiting.
I predict Russia will be a world power for the next ten years. It won't rise into a superpower or dissolve into a minor nation (i.e., Bangladesh).