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>So long as Russia has territory it doesn't control inside what it views to be its natural geological boundaries, there will always be Russian aggression. Quit
by woodandsteel 9y ago
>So long as Russia has territory it doesn't control inside what it views to be its natural geological boundaries, there will always be Russian aggression.
Quite true. The problem is that in order to gain the territory, it takes aggressive actions that provoke the very hostility it fears.
Russia's basic problem is it thinks we are still in the pre-nuclear era where great powers regularly invaded each other, and the pre-industrial era where that was the main road to economic wealth.
- torstenvl 9y agoRight. But as long as it can manipulate its way toward that expansion (by, say, laying claim to the ethnic Russian populations in eastern Ukraine and playing tough to the West to inhibit any retaliation) it won't have to get involved in all-out war. Agree 100%. Russia's biggest strength is also its biggest weakness: reliance on outdated forms of dominance. What we ought to be doing is working closely with China to develop energy technologies. Not only would it strengthen our interdependence on China (reducing the possibility of war with them), but our ability to cripple Russia economically would be substantially increased if we could build a couple thorium salt nuclear reactors in Eastern Europe and cut off Russia's income from oil exports.
- mdekkers 9y agoour ability to cripple Russia economically What would be the point of that? And, come to think of it, what do you think the likely outcome of such a situation would be? Good for you, you laid evil Putin low. And what about all the actual people living in Russia? Collateral damage? Warfare, economic or otherwise, is only the answer for people who lack the ability to think creatively.
- torstenvl 9y agoLOL