In short, we have done everything short of poking the bear with a very sharp stick, yet for some reason we act surprised when the Russian navy sends a strategic message:

Commodore Stephen Saunders, a former submarine commander and editor of Jane’s Fighting Ships, said: “The arrival of Akula Class submarines off the US eastern seaboard is as much a political move by the Russian Navy as a military one, although these deployments would always have to be approved from high-up. It’s unquestionably the Russian Navy trying to raise its profile.” (Emphasis mine)

But there are any number of other dynamics at work here: the Russian navy has always been something of a lesser stepchild to their army, for example, so of course the admiralty welcomes the chance for a strategic mission. The submarines are reportedly their most modern Akula-class, so this amounts to “showing off” military technology at a time when the United States dominates the international arms market to the world’s richest countries.

Nevertheless, the news feeds right-wing hysteria right at a time when “communism” and “socialism” are returning to their rhetoric: