Quote:
Originally Posted by Dondilion
Here is the rub...Humiliation in terms of normal kinetic warfare. It's a gamble.
In the meantime the rush to humiliate has exposed the fragility of the world economic system. It looks like there is likely to be only one winner...China.
Now watch China play lockdown.
|
In the nuclear age, engaging in warfare with a nuclear power is always a gamble. The impacts of this war on the world's economic system has nothing to do with a "rush to humiliate" Russia. If Russia doesn't want to be humiliated, Putin can quit now and tell his people that he somehow won. They'll likely believe it (as might you FWIW).
Here's another take on the matter:
The war in Ukraine has exposed the fundamental failure of Western audiences to appreciate the true nature of modern Russia. Many international observers still assume Russia is a rational actor and believe policies of appeasement can bring the conflict in Ukraine to an end. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, neither bleeding heart liberals nor diehard realists truly understand Vladimir Putin. They fail to recognize that he is an authoritarian kleptocrat who does not care about Russia’s national interest and is focused instead on his power and wealth. He hides this self-interest behind a façade of revisionist Russian nationalism that helps secure popular support for his criminal rule.
As I have argued in my book, “Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy,” Putin’s personal politics combine authoritarianism and kleptocracy. He needs war not to make Russia great again but to increase his popularity and justify his repressive domestic policies. Putin also fears the rise of a democratic Ukraine and views the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration as an existential threat to his own authoritarian regime.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blog...in-putinology/