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Russia has already increased it's trade with China 30%. Economically, Russia and China are forging closer ties, likely because the west adapted protectionist policies and the writing was on the wall. That is the reality. Xi is hanging out with Putin and doesn't even bother to call Biden. That is the reality. China and Russia have always mistrusted one another, but the Biden admin is quite incompetent and likely pushed them into the arms of Russia, which represents a massive geopolitical blunder.
How much trade existed before? Percentages can be misleading about the scale of the impact. Whether pushing them together is a blunder or not has not been written by history.
The disintegration of the Russian Federation will be the third phase of collapse. Third, after the dissolution of The Warsaw Pact in 1991 and the failure of The USSR in 1992.
Russia has proven itself unable to function as a nation-state. The staggering level of acceptance of corruption and violence and antisocial behaviors with its border doom Russia to failure. Any amount of money appropriated with the aim of curing internal problems disappears into the hands of the thousands of oligarchs and bureaucrats who take what they want.
A glance at the top line figures would tell the story to anyone interested. Russia has a GDP of $1800B, and its President has a worth of $200B. The next 10 oligarchs have accumulated another $100B. In Russia, organized crime is the government.
Excellent report.
The point is correct.
For an analogy Russia is in the state the USA might have found itself in had Al Capone ever somehow become president back in the day. All the machinery of government would have been at his disposal, he and his cohorts could steal with impunity
All of the resources of the US government would have been corrupted, including the entire judiciary and political opponents or members of Congress who balked could have been assassinated. The military would have been one big scam, with the badly needed funds diverted into the pockets of insiders.
I don't think the phrase "there but for the Grace of God go I" is inappropriate here. Democracies are fragile and character really counts.
Character counts! It simply can not be stressed too much. Putin kills his critics and political opponents. He rules with the iron fist of fear. In Russia today, one can not even hold up a blank piece of paper without getting swept off the street. Russia today, led by a greedy mad man, is circling the moral drain.
For an analogy Russia is in the state the USA might have found itself in had Al Capone ever somehow become president back in the day. All the machinery of government would have been at his disposal, he and his cohorts could steal with impunity
All of the resources of the US government would have been corrupted, including the entire judiciary and political opponents or members of Congress who balked could have been assassinated. The military would have been one big scam, with the badly needed funds diverted into the pockets of insiders.
I don't think the phrase "there but for the Grace of God go I" is inappropriate here. Democracies are fragile and character really counts.
Character counts! It simply can not be stressed too much. Putin kills his critics and political opponents. He rules with the iron fist of fear. In Russia today, one can not even hold up a blank piece of paper without getting swept off the street. Russia today, led by a greedy mad man, is circling the moral drain.
“In the Soviet Union, the KGB was a state within a state. Now former KGB officers are running the state. They have custody of the country’s 6,000 nuclear weapons, entrusted to the KGB in the 1950s, and they now also manage the strategic oil industry renationalized by Putin. The KGB successor, rechristened FSB, still has the right to electronically monitor the population, control political groups, search homes and businesses, infiltrate the federal government, create its own front enterprises, investigate cases, and run its own prison system. The Soviet Union had one KGB officer for every 428 citizens. Putin’s Russia has one FSB-ist for every 297 citizens.” https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1654250/posts
According to former Russian Duma member Konstantin Borovoi, "Putin's appointment is the culmination of the KGB's crusade for power. This is its finale. Now the KGB runs the country."[11] Olga Kryshtanovskaya, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Study of Elites, has found that up to 78% of 1,016 leading political figures in Russia have served previously in organizations affiliated with the KGB or FSB.[12] She said: "If in the Soviet period and the first post-Soviet period, the KGB and FSB people were mainly involved in security issues, now half are still involved in security but the other half are involved in business, political parties, NGOs, regional governments, even culture... They started to use all political institutions." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekism
...
A glance at the top line figures would tell the story to anyone interested. Russia has a GDP of $1800B, and its President has a worth of $200B. The next 10 oligarchs have accumulated another $100B.
In Russia, organized crime is the government.
“In the Soviet Union, the KGB was a state within a state. Now former KGB officers are running the state. They have custody of the country’s 6,000 nuclear weapons, entrusted to the KGB in the 1950s, and they now also manage the strategic oil industry renationalized by Putin. The KGB successor, rechristened FSB, still has the right to electronically monitor the population, control political groups, search homes and businesses, infiltrate the federal government, create its own front enterprises, investigate cases, and run its own prison system. The Soviet Union had one KGB officer for every 428 citizens. Putin’s Russia has one FSB-ist for every 297 citizens.” https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1654250/posts
According to former Russian Duma member Konstantin Borovoi, "Putin's appointment is the culmination of the KGB's crusade for power. This is its finale. Now the KGB runs the country."[11] Olga Kryshtanovskaya, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Study of Elites, has found that up to 78% of 1,016 leading political figures in Russia have served previously in organizations affiliated with the KGB or FSB.[12] She said: "If in the Soviet period and the first post-Soviet period, the KGB and FSB people were mainly involved in security issues, now half are still involved in security but the other half are involved in business, political parties, NGOs, regional governments, even culture... They started to use all political institutions." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekism
“In the Soviet Union, the KGB was a state within a state. Now former KGB officers are running the state. They have custody of the country’s 6,000 nuclear weapons, entrusted to the KGB in the 1950s, and they now also manage the strategic oil industry renationalized by Putin. The KGB successor, rechristened FSB, still has the right to electronically monitor the population, control political groups, search homes and businesses, infiltrate the federal government, create its own front enterprises, investigate cases, and run its own prison system. The Soviet Union had one KGB officer for every 428 citizens. Putin’s Russia has one FSB-ist for every 297 citizens.” https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1654250/posts
According to former Russian Duma member Konstantin Borovoi, "Putin's appointment is the culmination of the KGB's crusade for power. This is its finale. Now the KGB runs the country."[11] Olga Kryshtanovskaya, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Study of Elites, has found that up to 78% of 1,016 leading political figures in Russia have served previously in organizations affiliated with the KGB or FSB.[12] She said: "If in the Soviet period and the first post-Soviet period, the KGB and FSB people were mainly involved in security issues, now half are still involved in security but the other half are involved in business, political parties, NGOs, regional governments, even culture... They started to use all political institutions." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekism
The FSB has become the model criminal enterprise. Money courses through it like lifeblood. It has unlimited power within the country, and it's tentacles reach out to many countries, teams of killers murdering people in the streets.
This is why when we see western politicians chumming up to Putin, it smells real bad. Putin doesn't have genuine friends, he uses people and from his perspective it's all about loyalty. He expects loyalty even from heads of state he has helped in some way (there are many). One must demonstrate this loyalty, put it on display.
If one can demonstrate sufficient fealty to the capo, the rewards can flow ... smiles all around. Alternatively, one could be on a trip to the window.
The FSB has become the model criminal enterprise. Money courses through it like lifeblood. It has unlimited power within the country, and it's tentacles reach out to many countries, teams of killers murdering people in the streets.
This is why when we see western politicians chumming up to Putin, it smells real bad. Putin doesn't have genuine friends, he uses people and from his perspective it's all about loyalty. He expects loyalty even from heads of state he has helped in some way (there are many). One must demonstrate this loyalty, put it on display.
If one can demonstrate sufficient fealty to the capo, the rewards can flow ... smiles all around. Alternatively, one could be on a trip to the window.
That photo of the eight Republican Senators and Representative who celebrated the 4th of July in Moscow with Putin, has always struck me as damn odd.
Western, Ukrainian, and Russian sources continue to indicate that Russia is preparing for an imminent offensive, supporting ISW’s assessment that an offensive in the coming months is the most likely course of action (MLCOA). NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg stated on January 30 that there are no indications that Russia is preparing to negotiate for peace and that all indicators point to the opposite. Stoltenberg noted that Russia may mobilize upwards of 200,000 personnel and is continuing to acquire weapons and ammunition through increased domestic production and partnerships with authoritarian states such as Iran and North Korea. Stoltenberg emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin retains his maximalist goals in Ukraine. Head of the Council of Reservists of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Ivan Tymochko, relatedly stated that Russian forces are strengthening their grouping in Donbas as part of an anticipated offensive and noted that Russian forces will need to launch an offensive due to increasing domestic pressure for victory. Stoltenberg’s and Tymochko’s statements support ISW’s previous forecast that Russian forces are setting conditions to launch an offensive effort, likely in Luhansk Oblast, in the coming months. Russian milbloggers additionally continued to indicate that the Russian information space is setting conditions for and anticipating a Russian offensive. Milbloggers amplified a statement made by a Russian Telegram channel that the current pace and nature of Russian operations indicate that the main forces of the anticipated offensive and promised breakthrough have not yet “entered the battle.” This statement suggests that Russian milbloggers believe that Russian forces have not yet activated the elements required for a decisive offensive effort.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 37,184,359 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GotHereQuickAsICould
That photo of the eight Republican Senators and Representative who celebrated the 4th of July in Moscow with Putin, has always struck me as damn odd.
The only thing odd is they allowed it to be taken or diseminated.
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