I sometimes wonder if Ukraine is to World War III what the Spanish Civil War was to WWII. However, I have also heard that Russia is a lot closer to collapse than they let on. But if they did collapse it could be very messy and I fear what Putin might do if he feels he has nothing to lose.
BoiledCabbage 55 minutes ago [-]
> However, I have also heard that Russia is a lot closer to collapse than they let on.
I mean it seems like they were until someone just decided to give them huge infusion of money, remove all sanctions passed against them and throw them a huge lifeline. Oh and can't forget "remove sanctions for oligarchs".
AnimalMuppet 5 hours ago [-]
The Spanish Civil War, or the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The US put sanctions on Japan after they invaded Manchuria, and restricted trade of items that could help them with war. That's a big part of why Japan chose to attack the US.
anthk 4 hours ago [-]
By reading up Moneagle's books and the recent paper from Beatriz Villarroel something up in the atmosphere will mess with the timeline to avoid further issues.
expedition32 6 hours ago [-]
I was thinking the other day that China is playing it smart. They just have to keep doing what they are doing and they'll win.
Xi isn't doing anything ostentatious like sending his navy to the Persian gulf or overtly dropping weapons supplies in the Middle East.
After all they are going for the economic win- something that always eluded the USSR.
Let Trump hang himself and the Chinese make it out like the good guys. After all the most important thing nations want is not human rights it's stability.
scrubs 2 hours ago [-]
I hate to agree the Chinese government is competent in foreign affairs, but it's true.
Fundamentally China isn't Russia or USA which both have a proclivity to become entangled in foreign problems. For the US (I'm american) the civil side has four strategic risks:
- weak to no show congress which has ceded war making to the executive branch
- civilian leadership who think bomb it and declare success which is naive
- the inability to stop being suckered in by our own hurbris when others say but we can't get it done without US involvement
- an economy post WWII built on cheap oil, which has tentacles into the mideast
Meanwhile after having pissed away 50 years of culture wars particularly since newt gingrich and the tea party, the US fiscal situation is deplorable.
Most maddening? We did this to ourselves. Blaming immigrants isn't the flex people think it is
epolanski 6 hours ago [-]
The most stable systems are parliamentary democracies.
Sure, you might be switching governments often (and that's a feature, not a bug) at times, but things change slowly.
Which is what you need in a mature rich democracy.
The last thing you want is to elect hard to boot and control individuals like in presidential and semi presidential republics.
encoderer 6 hours ago [-]
Aren’t they going to lose about half their population in the next 75 years?
That’s… problematic
while_true_ 2 hours ago [-]
Who needs people to fight wars when you've got robots? "China’s armed forces are testing humanoid robots against combat requirements and studying how the machines might fight alongside soldiers." -- MSN
td521534f12 4 hours ago [-]
That's the trend in most populations over the next 100 years anyway.
SR2Z 3 hours ago [-]
Well, not countries which have large amounts of immigration and robust systems to integrate immigrants.
Unless of course they elect anti-immigration populists and ruin their appeal. Then they're doomed to shrink.
phendrenad2 3 hours ago [-]
China didn't elect anyone, let alone an anti-immigration populist, but their population is falling, and they don't have any plans to open up to immigration.
unrented7977 6 hours ago [-]
Given the course of climate change, that's likely to happen everywhere. That includes the US.
AnimalMuppet 5 hours ago [-]
"It is often easier to not do something stupid than it is to do something smart."
justsomehnguy 4 hours ago [-]
> Russian strikes on Ukraine kill more than 100 civilians across the country
> As a journalist ... It was at the three-day Munich Security Conference that ended on February 20 2022
Ah yes, nothing was happening in the world in previous 30 years and some countries absolutely didn't insist on being involved in the military conflicts on the other side of the globe. Nothing happened and it was kumbyaya everywhere. And no civilian casulties, of course.
I mean it seems like they were until someone just decided to give them huge infusion of money, remove all sanctions passed against them and throw them a huge lifeline. Oh and can't forget "remove sanctions for oligarchs".
Xi isn't doing anything ostentatious like sending his navy to the Persian gulf or overtly dropping weapons supplies in the Middle East. After all they are going for the economic win- something that always eluded the USSR.
Let Trump hang himself and the Chinese make it out like the good guys. After all the most important thing nations want is not human rights it's stability.
Fundamentally China isn't Russia or USA which both have a proclivity to become entangled in foreign problems. For the US (I'm american) the civil side has four strategic risks:
- weak to no show congress which has ceded war making to the executive branch
- civilian leadership who think bomb it and declare success which is naive
- the inability to stop being suckered in by our own hurbris when others say but we can't get it done without US involvement
- an economy post WWII built on cheap oil, which has tentacles into the mideast
Meanwhile after having pissed away 50 years of culture wars particularly since newt gingrich and the tea party, the US fiscal situation is deplorable.
Most maddening? We did this to ourselves. Blaming immigrants isn't the flex people think it is
Sure, you might be switching governments often (and that's a feature, not a bug) at times, but things change slowly.
Which is what you need in a mature rich democracy.
The last thing you want is to elect hard to boot and control individuals like in presidential and semi presidential republics.
That’s… problematic
Unless of course they elect anti-immigration populists and ruin their appeal. Then they're doomed to shrink.
> As a journalist ... It was at the three-day Munich Security Conference that ended on February 20 2022
Ah yes, nothing was happening in the world in previous 30 years and some countries absolutely didn't insist on being involved in the military conflicts on the other side of the globe. Nothing happened and it was kumbyaya everywhere. And no civilian casulties, of course.