Russia is tired of sitting on the bench. Mistakes by the US in the global struggle/war for energy resources has provided a great opportunity for the once-proud nation to get back into the game.

In terms of geopolitical strategy the US showed their hand way too early. Bush and the neocon oil barrons that run our foreign policy based their entire game plan on conquering Iraq and syphoning off their oil directly into our SUV's.

This strategy worked in the short term - oil companies have made record profits for US businesses - but neglected long term strategy.

With the Iraq occupation not going nearly as planned - a major tactical blunder - the US has been left out of many major oil deals in countries surrounding the Caspian Sea. Russian gov't controlled Gazprom has filled the void.

The US has also not been given as much control over China's race to build as many nuclear power plants as they can, a very lucrative market that will only get bigger in the future.

Russia isn't sitting on the bench anymore. They're in the game, and if the US doesn't make some adjustments fast it might be too late.