Greater Russia
Domestic
Greater Russia was booming like the old Chinese on crack. The people were motivated, healthier, and harder working than ever. Stories of success were spreading like a plague throughout Russia, which prompted Dakistov to give funds to an up-and-coming film producer to show how amazing Russia had become. The film featured many once-homeless or downtrodden people being interviewed, and explaining how they'd been taken off the streets, sheltered, given food and water, and taught valuable skills. Now, most of them were relatively skilled workers, and becoming more skilled every day. Other interviewees, who had been rejected from the pre-NRHS hospitals because of financial issues, were accepted and testified that they paid hardly anything, and received treatment that saved their lives. A few were even those citizens of the new members of Greater Russia, Poles, Finns, and Czechs talking about things were improving at the speed of lightning. This film, named "Greater Russia: The NEW Land of Opportunity," was quickly distributed across the globe in an effort to drum up Russian support.
With the economy having turned into a snowball, Dakistov turned much of the military from inward affairs to helping build infrastructure in the new member states, along with improving the worst pre-Russian member states. Siberia had become criss-crossed by a network of mines, factories, lumber harvesters, roads, rails, and towns. With Siberia improving of its own momentum, special attention was paid to the more impoverished regions.
While the infrastructure construction explosion continued, Dakistov realigned the budget once more, putting more money in space technologies including military applications, as well as exotic sciences and unconventional forms of reaching space, as well as more money into the general military.
Research on military applications of space technology was really beginning to pay off, as Russian engineers designed realistic kinetic-energy, "Rods from God" military satellites. Entirely legal in terms of UN law concerning outer space activities, these satellite designs and prototypes were generally not mentioned, except in a very obscure fashion, to the regular UN observers. There was no presence of weapons on Luna, nor were any thermonuclear warheads to be placed on the satellites. Russian military contractors quickly set about building dozens of these satellites, with Dakistov asking the SPCM to allow Greater Russia temporary access to some elevator shipments over the next months and years to deploy these "satellites," unnamed in any other way.
Research on mining asteroids was significantly downsized, as no more progress could be made until suitable transports could be designed. Money was thus pulled from the designs of asteroid mining, and added to the budget of the general Russian space program.
With the increased spending on the military, it grew much larger, encompassing far more infantry, tanks, planes, etc. Most notable was the increase in the number of hypersonic stealth air-superiority fighters, an amount which almost doubled, and hypersonic stealth bombers, which increased just under the fighters. Military contractors were churning out hardware within Russia. Greater Russia's nuclear missile systems were also brought completely back online, reasoned once more to serve as a "deterrent" to the other Federations.
Foreign
Very quietly, Russian military officials and ambassadors welcomed the Pan-African diplomats, and were very eager to discuss cooperation on more than just military issues. Dakistov himself eventually attended one of the meetings, and was recorded as stating, "Pan-Africa and Greater Russia share a number of commonalities. Russia was once lagging behind the other Federations, and has now come to forefront, along with the SPCM. Russia contained a great trove of untapped natural resources, and has moved to exploit these. Russia was once downtrodden upon by the West.
"Pan-Africa has the same potential as we had. Your lands contain many resources, untapped. Pan-Africa continues to resemble a hot Siberia; lacking in major infrastructure in many areas. Pan-Africa has always been stomped by the West. Though our cultures may be different, we have experiences many of the same conditions. In Pan-Africa, I see enormous, massive potential. We can help to develop your lands; become trading partners; form an alliance. Together, Pan-Africa and Greater Russia, along with our Pacific allies, can become the single greatest alliance in the history of Mankind. You, my future friends, need only take that first leap. Join us, and the rewards will be unimaginable. Thank you, and may your people forever prosper. We await your decision."
Greater Russia continued to pressure its target nations, seeking to rend them from the other Federations. Pro-Russian propaganda spread throughout the nearby Federations, concentrated in those currently key states that Dakistov so vehemently sought. However, Russia changed its game plan with the Arabs slightly, redoubling its efforts, and pressuring Turkey, all of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. These last two, previously ignored, would be crucial to boxing in the highly resistant SAEF.
As the SAEF declared their resoluteness to remain independent, Russia withdrew its searching tendrils from the Federation, and immediately classified the Federation as a possible target, which lead to their interest in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Finally, Dakistov transferred a number of purely theoretical military plans to Yamato. The first was titled "Operation Indian Typhoon," and detailed a combined Eurasian-Pacific blitz of the SAEF, ideally with most of the forces being Pacific in nature, with most of the action concerning mainland SAEF, primarily India. It states that the neutralization of India would be paramount to breaking the spine of the SAEF. Without India, the puny islands of the SAEF would be negligible. Upon victory, the plan also stated that all spoils and territory would go to the SPCM.
The second was titled "Operation Waxing Crescent," and detailed a possible combined African-Eurasian blitz of the Arabs. Pan-Africa would sweep upwards into Northern Africa, and Russia would push through Turkey, Afghanistan, and then Pakistan. From there, it would commit a massive coordinated attack on the main Middle East on three fronts.
The third, final, and currently most unlikely, was titled "Operation Broken Europe." This plan called for a blitz of the European Union, focusing on the lands east of France. Russian armies would advance and occupy Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Germany, and Italy, in accordance with the generals' thoughts that control of West Europe would be unstable and unlikely to survive for too long a period of time.
All three Operations included scenarios in the event of NAFTA or FSAS intervention, which was likely. However, the Russian re-activation of its nuclear facilities was cited as one reason for NAFTA and FSAS to keep their noses out of the Russian-Pacific-African business. If it became obvious that NAFTA or the FSAS planned to intervene, the plans merely stated that Russia maintained a hidden ace that could be revealed, assuming these Operations were committed a year or two after their creation. All three also stated that the expanded Russian-Pacific domination of space would only make these Operations that much easier, and that the more time that was given to allow the space facilities to grow would greatly pay off in any war.
