On the topic of Russias economy
| However, they all agree on one thing: without a steady stream of government orders to the war industry, the Russian house of cards will collapse – dependence on the war industry as an economic engine is now permanent. An interruption in rearmament would plunge the economy into a crisis that could threaten Putin's hold on power. In other words, he is now bound to war for his own political survival.
| Nor is there any way back from the massive repression that prevails in Russia today as long as Putin remains in power. The country is centralized to an extent unseen since Stalin. The regions are being pushed back by governors representing the Kremlin, and there are virtually no mechanisms left for articulating and addressing local and regional discontent. Putin is sitting on a pressure cooker.
| Here, too, it is difficult to determine what are credible indicators of the actual state of the country. What is certain is that it would be very risky for Putin to lift the lid.
Repression in Russia needs to be justified by threats, which is why propaganda works hard to portray the world's largest country as a besieged fortress.
| If Trump's USA stops playing the role of arch-enemy and is perhaps even portrayed on Russian television as a cooperative opponent, it is likely that Europe's liberal democracies will take over the role of primary adversary, both in propaganda and in reality. There is a direct link between internal repression and aggressive foreign policy. One enables the other. The latter justifies the former.
| Sucks but true.
| .
| It is pretty dystopian that I 100% believe a random post on /u/ more than accredited news sources.
| bump
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| If russias economy collapses, the U.S. and China are ready to "help" (=colonialize) them...
Putinists aggression against Ukraine was a big mistake. It weakened Russia and the EU, which could together could have play a global role between the USA and China. Now the rather may become their colonies on similiar level to other development countries.
| >>1074014
Russia didn't weaken EU in any way, that's just russian propaganda. The EU is more aligned than they've ever been. We cleaned house, we told germany to stop fucking around and stop being a bitch, we told hungary to stop fucking around and stop being a bitch too, but unlike germany they didn't listen so we stripped them of €1.04 billion for consistently flouting EU standards and democratic principles. We know who our people are and who not to trust.
Refresh
| The last few weeks have been marked by fierce battles between independent Russian economists over what should be considered indicators of the state of the Russian economy. The Kremlin manipulates all the figures. The main question in this dispute is how long the Russian economy will hold out. Some see an imminent collapse, while others argue that it is tougher than we think.