"His wealth and position are built on the wealth of his people: socialism’s power by contrast is derived from wealth destruction, which explains much of the political divide."
Read Alasdair Macleod's five-star essay on Ukraine here.
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yes, but do we agree ? (with the first bit, obviously)
ReplyDeletein any event I'd assess Russia as having a lot fewer aces than Macleod does. Alright, it's invulnerable in one sense: but it doesn't want to be just a vast lumpen territory, it wants its 'rightful' position in the comity of advanced, civilised nations
without, of course, doing anything to earn it
declining population; surrounded by trouble; limited respect (pace, Hatfield Girl); pretty soon it's just a source of raw materials for China, with some interesting history + architecture
(and a striking diaspora of very well-educated & wealthy people)
Now that you've given Lord Burleigh's assessment to the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth I, put yourself in Putin's shoes and think how he might see Russia's economic development - maybe holding onto resources in the East but turning Western Russia into a stable modern industrial society? Working to form an EU of Central Asia?
ReplyDeletehow Putin sees it is simple: try to parlay his excellent (but raw-materials based) trading contacts and hard-won (painfully hard) WTO membership into sales opportunities for manufactured goods (other than armaments)
ReplyDeleteas I've noted on C@W, the Russian opening gambit on sales of gas to China was to 'insist' it would be a package, 50:50 by value, of gas & goods: & of course the Chinese told them where they could stuff their lousy trucks
stalemate ensued (over the price and Russian insistence on oil-indexation, given that the manufacturing package was a complete non-starter)
broken only by his Ukraine-based desperation, to sign with China, to 'show the West'
an EU of Central Asia? but Russia only understands might-is-right, and Russia-is-best ! and everyone knows this
they just can't help themselves