As an extreme example, everyone knows about Germany hyperinflation in the 20s. Fewer people are aware that 1929-1932 was a period of massive deflation in Germany that led to the German economy collapsing, the Nazis siezing power, and 10 years later most of Europe being occupied by Fascists.
So it's pretty reasonable to be concerned about deflation.
They are good. Can you name a better game in the same genre? The only competition I can think of is Uncharted 4. The older Tomb Raider games are too many generations behind to run on modern consoles.
Tomb Raider has become a major movie franchise, so it's not too surprising that the new games from the last decade are essentially movies.
It is right next to NATO airspace as well as an active war instigated by Russia.
Also, do you really think the Russians scramble their strategic bombers to Alaska because it is next to their borders? They don't do the same to China or North Korea.
Maybe, but in the past we've used fighters to shoot down Reapers after losing positive control over them (e.g., in Afghanistan), so it's not clear that they are very self destructible. Flying it straight down into the water would probably cause a large amount of disintegration.
MQ9s have also been lost many times before, including over Yemen and Libya, so it's not clear how sensitive the wreck still is.
So it's pretty reasonable to be concerned about deflation.