Putin Won. But Russia Is Losing

Good article by political scientist and author Ian Bremmer about how Putin's reelection won't help Russia in the long run. The bad news is that with desperation come desperate acts. If Putin and Russia continue to falter, there is the potential they could collapse into civil war or, in a desperate effort to unite Russians, start a war with other nations.

http://time.com/5210520/putin-won-but-russia-is-losing/?iid=sr-link1
Vladimir Putin may have been re-elected president of Russia on March 18, but he’s far from the grand master of geopolitical chess portrayed in the Western media. Whether bragging about Russia’s “invincible” new missile, playing coy over accusations that his hackers play games with foreign elections or that his spies murder opponents in faraway places, the Russian President seems intent on restaging the Cold War–but without the military reach or global ideological appeal that made the Soviet Union a formidable foe.

What has Putin really won? Today’s Russia has an economy smaller than that of Canada. Its entire military budget is less than the extra money President Donald Trump wants Congress to spend on U.S. defense. It has no NATO allies, and it counts countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Sudan, North Korea, Syria and Serbia among its few reliable friends. China makes occasional deals with Russia but only at a Chinese price.

While Putin wants the world to see him as a strong, decisive leader, he often fails to understand the full impact of his actions. Looking at the foreign policy fights he has picked, it’s clear that he is a shrewd short-term tactician and a lousy long-term strategist.....

 

If that's all the truth then Putin is a very good political calculator despite his weakness -- he took Ukraine and Crimea and nobody lifted a hand against him other than hot air -- even though the US was supposed to intervene under the Budapest Memorandum of Security Assurances for the Ukraine, and Russia was supposed to stay the hell out of Ukraine but didn't.

Call it en passant or call it a master stroke, the result is an easy victory for Putin.

 

That's because Germany and France are wimps who would suck his dick for cheap energy.

 

Crimea was an easy "steal" for Putinka , Ukraine just got rid of a phucknugget of a president and was on its heels, stage some sham referendum with 100%+ turnout with "non existent" troops with AKs before the vote,LOL.

He tried to roll the dice in East Ukraine, but was caught off guard by the pushback, no one there was interested in some Strelkov inspired "russki Mir"!

Now he's got dozens of body bags coming back every other day for secret burials in obscure cemeteries, while paying hush$$$$ to widows of the dead schnegs!

 

Seems like Putin is making the same errors of the past beginning with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, then Chechnya and Georgia.

 

Seems that way.....according to my source/friend in the Ukranian military....there are few to none..."rebels" were fighting, many of the rebels were killed off in the earlier years of hostilities, or captured as POWs, mercs that had their thrills or were killed off, ....and for the most part many of the rebels seemed to have wised up, seeing that they were just guinea pigs for the russkis regular military, taking most of the casualties, while the Russians grabbed the spoils. It's Ukranian &russian militaries staring each other down for the most part.

 

What a load of best garden fertilizer.
Reminds me of George Kennan (may he burn in Hell), renowned and so very wrong.


Not taken into account is a resiliency of the Russian people to
protect their country.

Stop the stupid, ineffectual sanctions and Russia will most
certainly have more comforts for the people.

I did not like Putin at first. Likewise Khrushchev.
But, as I watched them over time I became more sympathetic to their
efforts to improve the lives of their peoples.

I was a kid in Hollywood when Khrushchev made his tour of America.
Well portrayed in American Experience.
All those old, Russian immigrant studio owners threw him a gala that
was broadcast live. Almost like a "roast".
The problem of that era was 1960, JFK/NIXON and who hates communist more.
There was no access for Khrushchev's attempts at perestroika.
Party conservatives could say "told you so" and booted him out.

​

I would hate to see the same mistake with Putin as is currently happening.
End the sanctions.
Crimea is not "our fight". If it was, it isn't any longer. That simple, like getting out of Vietnam sooner.
Putin is a Russian nationalist. Maybe the Trump of Russia.
While not maintaining Putin is less corrupt than other Russian leaders, it is evident to Moi that similar to Khrushchev, Putin really has some focus on improving the lives of his peoples. Yes peoples, they are not all Russian.
And the analysis above is a politically motivated, stinker for its' narrow scope.


Moi

Wake up
Across an immense, unguarded, ethereal border, Canadians, cool and unsympathetic,
regard our America with envious eyes and slowly and surely draw their plans against us.


​

 

Putin is a tin-plated dictator who considers himself to be a modern Napoleon.

Invading other nations does not require a resiliency to protect their country....unless they’re like the ****ing Nazis who needed “breathing space”.

You support for Russia and their economy, not to mention their aggression toward other countries is noted. ​

 

But that is right in line with the author's comments. While those were tactical victories, the resultant sanctions are crippling the Russian economy. Time will tell, but those actions may be strategic failures.

 

Trump has always been single-minded about pipelines.. Russia doesn't have much else.

Nordsteam 2 has been in the works since 2006.

 

What this shows a you can get away with a lot when you are a nuclear power and that's why we can't let there be any more Russia's, like NK for instance.

 

And look what China has accomplished over the past 20 years for its people. Now, compare that to Russia. When I see shows about life in Russia, it looks like they're no better off than they were 50 years ago.

 

Conservatives have realized this for awhile, its the liberals who paint Putin and Russia as some great evil force in the universe.

Maybe they ought to stop that.

 

True. Obama first brought up our NATO “allies” paying a minimum of 2% and Trump is following up on that action. I support the idea; our allies need to hold up their end so the US can reduce our spending and troop deployments in Europe.

While the Russian economy is sucking badly, part of that is due to their own actions in attacking their neighbors Chechnya, Georgia and, mostly, Ukraine. A person who burns down their own house then pleads for the public to help them rebuild is a fool. The only person more foolish are those who give him money.

 

Putin is a murdering dictator. He’s been elected to his last term, per the Russian Constitution, as President but there is speculation that he will change that Constitution so he can become President for Life.

 

Agreed. Part of that is because Russia is run by criminals. Another part is that Putin is more interested in conquest and power than helping his people economically. Lastly, because of Putin’s aggression, the attack on Ukraine has made them a pariah.

 

That's if his own inner circle doesn't tire of him and toss him out!

 

I agree with that. Russia is run by criminals, and I don't think there is any desire whatsoever among the Russian elites to improve the lot of ordinary Russians. It's a dictatorship with this charade of elections as window dressing, and power is all the elites care about - not the people.

 

I stopped reading at "...the Russian President seems intent on restaging the Cold War..."

Baseless propaganda. You should send that back to George Soros for some content re-editing.

 

I'm hoping for that option: Putin is retired at the point of a gun.

 

Admirable that you stick up for the Russians and Putin. Disagreed it's LW or Soros.

 

How does that make Russia different from the vast majority of the world others countries, and all of its powerful ones?

 

Agreed. On one hand, that's all their problem. OTOH, we have several people on this forum who are acting against the best interests of Americans and supporting the best interests of those same criminals and Russian elite.

 

Russia is capitalist, nationalist and 'westernized.' They're plenty corrupt, but no more than any other country that has any influence. Their greatest sin is rejecting progressive collectivism.

 

But he rides horses topless...