We may not be going into WW3 with Russia over Syria after all.

[Thumpalumpacus]

It does, however, matter what their desire to survive means. MAD is still in effect, "the End of the Cold War" notwithstanding.

Sure. But to say that Russia isn't a threat because of a struggling economy is nonsense. They didn't have a good economy during the cold war either, but people were certainly worried about it then. It's also a country with a huge population, right on the border of Europe. Also your average Russian is way tougher than your average American or European, who have been getting softer and softer with each generation.

I suppose it depends on what conception of WWIII we're talking about, conventional or nuclear.