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Why would Russia want to invade Sweden? This is political fearmongering and bullshit.

gspetr 10y ago
That's what keeps puzzling me. Everyone throws the word "Russia" around without providing any kind of reason as to why it would invade any of those countries in the first place. Do they have Russian military bases of strategic importance? No. Do they have population that is ethnically Russian? No.
- ptaipale 10y ago
  It's not just what the neighbours have. It's what Russia is and has. Do they have a leader who is disconnected from regular life, poses in absurd settings and gets his information from intelligence agencies? Check. Do they have a political system that has an internally dysfunctional economy and that needs external enemies to keep people from looking at what happens domestically? Check. Do they repress internal opposition? Check. Do they despise democracy? Check. Do they have a media that is spreading propaganda about neighbours and is controlled by the government? Check. Do they think in terms of "spheres of influence"? Check. There are enough parallels to Stalin's USSR to make neighbours worried.
  - gspetr 10y ago
    Problem with your argument is, the last thing Russia wants is more sanctions, precisely because of it's currently collapsing economy. People are not happy and it is 2017, exactly a century since the Great October Revolution of 1917. This severely limits them in search of external enemies.
    - ptaipale 10y ago
      I'm not that worried about 2017, but where Russia is heading in the medium term. But even this year, they seem to be willing to continue to wage war in Ukraine, and with Belarus in turmoil, they may feel they have to send in some tanks to defend the friendly Lukashenko regime.
      - gspetr 10y ago
        Lukashenko regime is much more stable because their police state is much stronger, they have literal KGB and people get visits from it for doing counter-regime posts on the internet much more often than in Russia. Ukrainian regime actually does not want the war to end. The oligarchs there are very much OK with plundering the country while playing the external enemy card. If war stopped the population would turn their attention inward and they have nothing to show for their time in power.
eveningcoffee 10y ago
Russia has attacked other nations next too its borders, if Sweden can not project any acceptable military strength then Russia may potentially target Sweden with limited territory takeover (its strategically located islands for example) or just threaten to use force to support its political motivations. Why? Because they can.
BurningFrog 10y ago
Right now Sweden is a military vacuum. Anyone with a decent army can walk in and take what they want. This makes the country a path of least resistance. If you are NATO trying to plan for defending the baltic states from Russia, you must plan for stopping them from taking Gotland. So the first goal of improving Sweden's defense is to make that better.

That's what keeps puzzling me. Everyone throws the word "Russia" around without providing any kind of reason as to why it would invade any of those countries in the first place. Do they have Russian military bases of strategic importance? No. Do they have population that is ethnically Russian? No.

ptaipale 10y ago
It's not just what the neighbours have. It's what Russia is and has. Do they have a leader who is disconnected from regular life, poses in absurd settings and gets his information from intelligence agencies? Check. Do they have a political system that has an internally dysfunctional economy and that needs external enemies to keep people from looking at what happens domestically? Check. Do they repress internal opposition? Check. Do they despise democracy? Check. Do they have a media that is spreading propaganda about neighbours and is controlled by the government? Check. Do they think in terms of "spheres of influence"? Check. There are enough parallels to Stalin's USSR to make neighbours worried.
- gspetr 10y ago
  Problem with your argument is, the last thing Russia wants is more sanctions, precisely because of it's currently collapsing economy. People are not happy and it is 2017, exactly a century since the Great October Revolution of 1917. This severely limits them in search of external enemies.
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    I'm not that worried about 2017, but where Russia is heading in the medium term. But even this year, they seem to be willing to continue to wage war in Ukraine, and with Belarus in turmoil, they may feel they have to send in some tanks to defend the friendly Lukashenko regime.
    - gspetr 10y ago
      Lukashenko regime is much more stable because their police state is much stronger, they have literal KGB and people get visits from it for doing counter-regime posts on the internet much more often than in Russia. Ukrainian regime actually does not want the war to end. The oligarchs there are very much OK with plundering the country while playing the external enemy card. If war stopped the population would turn their attention inward and they have nothing to show for their time in power.

eveningcoffee 10y ago

Russia has attacked other nations next too its borders, if Sweden can not project any acceptable military strength then Russia may potentially target Sweden with limited territory takeover (its strategically located islands for example) or just threaten to use force to support its political motivations. Why? Because they can.

BurningFrog 10y ago

Right now Sweden is a military vacuum. Anyone with a decent army can walk in and take what they want. This makes the country a path of least resistance. If you are NATO trying to plan for defending the baltic states from Russia, you must plan for stopping them from taking Gotland. So the first goal of improving Sweden's defense is to make that better.