The Coming World War

I've been using the same method in these discussions! 😀

Name some Russian world famous products or services....erm....a VERY long pause 😎

R36M2 (nuclear warhead carrier), Novichok, Polonium based agents, Mig-35, vodka?

Vodka is in fact of Polish origin.

I've a few Russian acquaintances, all emigrants. They're pretty clear and consistent on where their country stands...

It's not a shíthole, not at all. It's a corrupted broken despotic oligarchic place with astronomical wealth inequalities (100 richest individuals hold 20% of assets) ridden with deep alcoholism. Largest number of alcohol related deaths in the world.

Russia was never really an advanced country, historically. It had serfdom the longest in Europe, then straight from feudalism to communism (with no capitalism in between) and then to democracy which quickly turned into oligarchic pseudo-democracy.

With its resources and territory Russia should be the wealthiest and most prosperous place in the world. Also, it should be in top of the Human Development Index, but it's 52nd, in fact.

May Russian apologetists explain why it is not the wealthiest and humanly developed?

It was not the us that installed Yeltsin. He was made by the slow pace of reform and the inability of the Communist party to let go control of the country. Ya Russia would have been better served of Gorbachev had survived longer. The falling out between himself and Yeltsin was bad for Russian people. But Yeltsin was not installed by the US. He was just an incapable russian president who sourrounded himself with corrupt people and may have been himself

Not only did the US install Yeltsin but they openly bragged about it and didn’t even try to hide the fact, look up ‘Time Magazine, Yanks to the rescue’

Yeltsin is nothing more than a cartoon character on the cover of the magazine.

It is very obvious that the US enjoyed rubbing Russia’s nose in the dirt and humiliating them after they ‘won’ the Cold War.

Since when has Time Magazine been the defacto documents if US foreign policy.

What you are spouting is rubbish. Yeltsin prevent the 1990 hard-line putsch.

Gorbachev crested an elected assembly but Yeltsin was the main beneficiary. Gorbachev was being squeezed between hardliners and liberals led by Yeltsin. He had an agreement with Yeltsin for reform however the 1991 putsch by hard-line Communists against Gorbachev made Yeltsin the main power figure in Russia after he got the General public out in the street against the army tanks. Ordinary soldiers switched sides. Gorbachev survived but was mortality wounded as a leader. The hardliners hated him over allowing the break up of the Warsaw pact countries and the liberal taught he was acting too slow.

Yeltsin climb to power after that was unstoppable and he opened up Russia too fast. The main beneficiary were Russian oligarchs who seized control of businesses and resources.

If you want to be critical of anything it there failure of the West to financially support Russia when Gorbachev was in power.

Rags like Time and Newsweek make a lot of unsubstantiated claims which are mostly exaggerated.

Very good analysis there of Russia and Yeltsin in the early 90s, one thing that can be said for Yeltsin back then he was a very brave man. To make a stand against the Communists and the army was a very brave thing to do. I wonder what side Putin was on back then, we know that he is an avowed anti communist now but what side was he on in 1991?

Russia has certainly been mismanaged throughout the recent centuries but I would quibble with your assertion that it should be the wealthiest and most prosperous nation on earth. Although Russia is gigantic, it has a lot of geographical problems.

Firstly, a lot of its terrain, especially west of the Urals, is basically a frozen desert - more than 60% of the country is covered in permafrost. This has knock-on affects for agriculture, transportation and habitation. As a result 77% of the population live west of the Urals - in just 23% of the territory of the entire country. Secondly, none of the ports in the west, north or east of the country are ice-free all year round and this greatly hindered the development of the country. This was one of the reasons by Russia annexed Crimea, as they feared losing access to the warm water port of Sevastopol - although even that port is bound by the fact that any russian ships have to travel through seas entirely controlled by NATO member Turkey. Thirdly, the West of Russia has always been its weak point - the wide flat plains allow enemy armies to advance rapidly with no obvious defensive positions. The Russians of course know this which is why they have always been fanatical about controlling those countries on their western borders - in order to create a buffer zone.

Contrast all of that with the USA, which has:

• Easy access to 2 oceans and the Gulf of Mexico all year round
• A fully navigable river system, in the Mississippi/Missouri that allows access to the centre of the country, especially the agricultural heartland, via New Orleans
• Land suitable for both planting crops and building roads throughout the country
• An entire ocean between it and the traditional European colonial powers, Britain, France and Spain with whom it battled with for control of their territory
• Friendly (and significantly weaker) neighbours to the north and south

Russia is one of the few countries in the world that sees an upside to global warming - in that they believe it will unlock more of their Siberian interior as well as allow navigation via the Arctic Sea all year round. This is a double edged sword though - as was seen in massive forest fires that swept through the country last summer.

Looks like you whole preface was incorrect. Again this morning the washing machines in the Kremlin are going full tilt washing Putin's underwear. Underpants and toilet paper in Moscow have trebled in price.

He is like the good old Duke of York he marched them up to the top of the the hill, he have to march them back down again now.

He walked right into this one. Biden played a blinder.

@Sam Russell Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland all refrained from getting into an arms race with the USA or USSR, and so avoided committing huge amounts of their national wealth trying to build advanced arms for a war that never happened.

You obviously haven't seen the swedish military along with the Danes , Norwegians and Finn's , Sweden has developed some of the best and capable military systems in the world , something they have been doing since the end of ww2 , the Finn's similarly have a defense budget almost 5 x ours they have been set up to defend against Russian aggression and possible invasion something Russia probably doesn't want to do considering what happened last time something like 200,000 dead Russians ,the danish military is also very capable and like Sweden set up to defend against foreign aggression and there also a Nato country,

While the swedes ,danes,finns , Norwegians didn't try to compete as superpowers they did develop their military capabilities , unlike like us here in Ireland people expect other countries to completely defend us because we have no capability to do so ,and the people don't want any spending done on the military here we have posters on boards demanding the disbandment of the military.

No but the did get invaded and occupied and in parts annexed at various points

Its actually just under 42million and 4miilion of them at least will have left Ukraine soon enough. So 10 percent of there population.

Ye and start WW3. Great idea.