The current conflict in Georgia has brought me to a realization. A sudden, shocking realization. The Russia most of us at Gamespot knew growing up has been replaced with the one our fathers and grandfathers had urine-inducing nightmares about.Gone are the Western-stooge leaders, gone is the third-world economy. The replacements for the stooges is perhaps one of the most influential and fascinating men to come onto the European scene in decades, Vladimir Putin. This ex-KGB official seems to know how to stir up the long-dormant nationalism in his people, and he has exercised that talent well. He also knows how to do things like, say, bringing plummeting economies back up in record-time speed and highs. Also, the guy is buff and is a Sixth Degree Black Belt (and also owns his own dojo in St. Petersburg). He also doesn't give two damns what the UN thinks about his actions. Clearly not the typical East-European leader we youngsters have come to know.Oh, and I know he isn't the President anymore. But, that really doesn't matter. Why, you ask? Because he appointed himself Prime Minister, obtained powers that had previously NOT come with said position, and got to place a hand-picked Medvedev as President. The way he didn't even bother to be subtle about this, and the fact he didn't NEED to due to the public's overwhelming support of him, is actually kind of, for lack of a better word, impressive.Speaking of soured economies, that is the other thing that has been replaced in Russia. Russians are now living better than they have in decades, and their economy hasn't even plateaued yet. Their considerable amount of oil has a large part to do with that, along with the economical reforms brought about by ol' Vladi. And with an economical rise comes a military rise. Russia seemed keen to show that this is indeed true with this year's Victory Parade in Moscow, which involved, for the first time since the Soviet Union, columns of military equipment. By military rise, I don't mean that the Russian military finally can give a sufficient amount of equipment to its troops once again, but the equipment itself is on the rise. A military modernization has also been in full-swing for the last couple of years. The former backbone of the Russian military, old, out of date Cold War-era equipment, are either being modernized to today's standards or being completely replaced with new equipment. And now Russia's giving that new equipment some 'field-testing' in Georgia.It may just be me, but I think I am seeing a bear that has been in hibernation for 27 years starting to wake up.