Written by Eric Zuesse One can’t evaluate whether Putin’s campaign in Ukraine is succeeding without first knowing what its OBJECTIVES were. In order...
Considering that China is 100% on Russia’s side and that most of the Global South continues to do business as usual with them, considering that Russia is self-sufficient in food and energy, that inflation is not being experienced in those essential daily necessities but only in imported goods while the west is having the biggest problems in precisely those essential areas, considering that the value of the Ruble has come back to pre Operation Z levels, that much of Europe has no choice but to continue to buy essential Russian exports like gas (which they will have to do more and more in Rubles), and that almost a dozen countries have now signed up in one form or another to Russia and China’s alternative to the SWIFT payment transfer system… Well i’d say things are looking good and will only get better for Russia the longer this goes on.
Time is on Russia’s side, the sanctions frontloaded all the damage hoping to cause an immediate collapse, shock and awe style, which did not work and now Russia is starting to fill the gaps left by western companies in their market with either domestic or Chinese/Indian production. This will have the effect of making Russia stronger, more self-reliant and more resillient just as the 2014 sanctions did. While at the same time things in the west will only get worse, a massive economic crisis is already showing signs of emerging, in economies severely weakened by two years of pandemic mismanagement that have now committed economic suicide by cutting themselves off from one of the largest suppliers of food, raw materials and energy, not to mention destroying international trust in the Dollar hegemony and Western financial system with their foolish decision to rob Russia’s Central Bank.
Of course, there is wisdom in what you say as well, we should not rush to conclusions, only time will tell what the ultimate result will be, and that will depend in large part by the decisions Russia takes. What the west does from now on is of little importance, but if Russia continues to listen to its more liberal economists that could risk undermining its successes so far. Now is the time for Russia to make bold, radical moves. They have a window of opportunity now that the population is in a nationalistic mood, and would support a daring experiment in adopting a new economic paradigm while many oligarchs have largely been neutered by the western sanctions which took away their foreign wealth and thereby crippled their political power in Russia, getting rid of a thorn in Putin’s side.
Don’t you think it’s too early for a conclusion like this? China sure, I’ll concede, but Russia?
Considering that China is 100% on Russia’s side and that most of the Global South continues to do business as usual with them, considering that Russia is self-sufficient in food and energy, that inflation is not being experienced in those essential daily necessities but only in imported goods while the west is having the biggest problems in precisely those essential areas, considering that the value of the Ruble has come back to pre Operation Z levels, that much of Europe has no choice but to continue to buy essential Russian exports like gas (which they will have to do more and more in Rubles), and that almost a dozen countries have now signed up in one form or another to Russia and China’s alternative to the SWIFT payment transfer system… Well i’d say things are looking good and will only get better for Russia the longer this goes on.
Time is on Russia’s side, the sanctions frontloaded all the damage hoping to cause an immediate collapse, shock and awe style, which did not work and now Russia is starting to fill the gaps left by western companies in their market with either domestic or Chinese/Indian production. This will have the effect of making Russia stronger, more self-reliant and more resillient just as the 2014 sanctions did. While at the same time things in the west will only get worse, a massive economic crisis is already showing signs of emerging, in economies severely weakened by two years of pandemic mismanagement that have now committed economic suicide by cutting themselves off from one of the largest suppliers of food, raw materials and energy, not to mention destroying international trust in the Dollar hegemony and Western financial system with their foolish decision to rob Russia’s Central Bank.
Of course, there is wisdom in what you say as well, we should not rush to conclusions, only time will tell what the ultimate result will be, and that will depend in large part by the decisions Russia takes. What the west does from now on is of little importance, but if Russia continues to listen to its more liberal economists that could risk undermining its successes so far. Now is the time for Russia to make bold, radical moves. They have a window of opportunity now that the population is in a nationalistic mood, and would support a daring experiment in adopting a new economic paradigm while many oligarchs have largely been neutered by the western sanctions which took away their foreign wealth and thereby crippled their political power in Russia, getting rid of a thorn in Putin’s side.