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Just two points: 1) why would Russia invade bankrupt and dying Baltic states? There's no economical or geostrategic point in this 2) Just proves the point that

Just two points: 1) why would Russia invade bankrupt and dying Baltic states? There's no economical or geostrategic point in this 2) Just proves the point that all USA "allies" are just an expandable cannon fodder to experiment with attacking Russia. It's too dangerous for US to attack Russia directly, so they're planning to grab the heat using hands of Poland or Estonia. Russia will nuke Estonia - fine as long as it's not Washington.

credit_guy 7y ago
> bankrupt and dying Baltic states Here's a graph of the gdp/capita for the Baltic states [1] and Russia [2]. I did the math for you: Estonia experienced a compounded growth rate of 6.2%/year, while Russia one of 4.2%/year. As for your second point, I'm not sure what you are trying to say. It's too dangerous for the US to attack Russia? Why would the US want to attack Russia? What is the indication that the US would have that in mind? Conversely, to your question why Russia would invade the Baltic states, may I remind you that not that long ago Russia invaded Crimea? Despite signing the Budapest Memorandum that offered security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons [3]. The US signed the same memorandum, and watched powerlessly how Russia invades the sovereign territory of Ukraine and can't do anything to honor its end of the deal. Well, what's the big fuss over this, you might say? Ukraine is not a NATO member, the US guarantee was somewhat metaphorical. But the Baltic states are NATO members. If Russia manages to deliver the same fait accompli as it did in Crimea, the US prestige is mortally wounded. NATO might as well cease to exist there and then. What's the geostrategic point in this? It's simple: there is no bigger strategic objective for Russia today than to make NATO irrelevant. [1] https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=estonia+gdp+per+capita https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=estonia... [2] https://www.google.com/search?q=russia+gdp+per+capita https://www.google.com/search?q=russia+gdp+per+capita [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Securit...
- anticodon 7y ago
  Baltic states had all their industry destroyed. I don't know about GDP growth, I just know that life there is harsher than in Russia and there's no potential for improvement: Europe and US do not need another potential competitor, and due to their hatred for Russia they broke all the ties to Russia. So they're like a suitcase without a handle: seem too valuable to throw it out but too inconvenient to continue carrying it. Like Ukraine which EU or US certainly doesn't want to feed but they're unable to provide for themselves. The sure sign of this is that significant portion of their population emigrated to richer European countries, and the remaining population does not reproduce (I assume because there's not enough sustenance to raise kids or no hope for kids to have better future). Crimea wasn't invaded and Crimea has largely Russian population. It's not a hostile racist nation that Russia would have to feed and always expect to stab in the back. Russian people live in Crimea and they're happy to become part of Russia again (source: I have coworkers and friends from Crimea). Besides Crimea has a valuable geographic position.

credit_guy 7y ago

> bankrupt and dying Baltic states Here's a graph of the gdp/capita for the Baltic states [1] and Russia [2]. I did the math for you: Estonia experienced a compounded growth rate of 6.2%/year, while Russia one of 4.2%/year. As for your second point, I'm not sure what you are trying to say. It's too dangerous for the US to attack Russia? Why would the US want to attack Russia? What is the indication that the US would have that in mind? Conversely, to your question why Russia would invade the Baltic states, may I remind you that not that long ago Russia invaded Crimea? Despite signing the Budapest Memorandum that offered security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons [3]. The US signed the same memorandum, and watched powerlessly how Russia invades the sovereign territory of Ukraine and can't do anything to honor its end of the deal. Well, what's the big fuss over this, you might say? Ukraine is not a NATO member, the US guarantee was somewhat metaphorical. But the Baltic states are NATO members. If Russia manages to deliver the same fait accompli as it did in Crimea, the US prestige is mortally wounded. NATO might as well cease to exist there and then. What's the geostrategic point in this? It's simple: there is no bigger strategic objective for Russia today than to make NATO irrelevant. [1] https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=estonia+gdp+per+capita https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=estonia... [2] https://www.google.com/search?q=russia+gdp+per+capita https://www.google.com/search?q=russia+gdp+per+capita [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Securit...

anticodon 7y ago
Baltic states had all their industry destroyed. I don't know about GDP growth, I just know that life there is harsher than in Russia and there's no potential for improvement: Europe and US do not need another potential competitor, and due to their hatred for Russia they broke all the ties to Russia. So they're like a suitcase without a handle: seem too valuable to throw it out but too inconvenient to continue carrying it. Like Ukraine which EU or US certainly doesn't want to feed but they're unable to provide for themselves. The sure sign of this is that significant portion of their population emigrated to richer European countries, and the remaining population does not reproduce (I assume because there's not enough sustenance to raise kids or no hope for kids to have better future). Crimea wasn't invaded and Crimea has largely Russian population. It's not a hostile racist nation that Russia would have to feed and always expect to stab in the back. Russian people live in Crimea and they're happy to become part of Russia again (source: I have coworkers and friends from Crimea). Besides Crimea has a valuable geographic position.