4 ms·

Russia's future - The cracks appear

10 points by sasvari 15y ago

ck2 15y ago
Maybe, just maybe, there isn't a single country in the world qualified right now to be giving out advice on how to run another country.
- daliusd 15y ago
  Short answer: Canada Long answer: "Economist" is not the country. It would be too brave to say that "Economist" represents any country at all. Another problem: mixing economical, social and other problems into one pot is not good thing to do. Is it bad to take advice about marriage from neighbor who had to sold one of two cars because of crisis? Therefore why not Canada?
  - ck2 15y ago
    Canada (still) does some things well but correct me if I am wrong, they are feeling the grip of a conservative movement lately and they are trying to push their oil pipeline onto the USA by threatening to sell it elsewhere cheaper. The author of that article goes to great lengths to appear neutral and just cover the facts but again, whatever perspective the author is coming from - I don't see too many countries with a working model right now, and the ones that are getting by typically have a big positive in their favor - no massively funded military, so no military industrial complex welfare.
    - daliusd 15y ago
      What do you mean by "working model" ? Economical crisis in USA looks completely different from economical, human rights and political crises in Russia. In country I live economical crisis and diplomatic situation (bad relations with Russia) leads to situation that is different from Russia and USA. While we don't define what is "working model" it is empty talk. Is it happiness index - then let's act like Denmark. Are we talking about country that lived well through economical crisis - Canada, China or Brasil. Should we look at good human rights and living conditions: then only Canada (maybe Brasil for some people). P.S. Canada is 13rd in the world by military expenditure.
      - ajuc 15y ago
        Don't treat this as being rude, I'm just curious - why does Canada need so big military expenses? In my (uninformed) opinion Canada is as safe, as anybody can be in modern world - ocean on each border with one exception - USA, that is friendly, and if it's not, Canada don't stand a chance with them anyway.
        garyrichardson 15y ago
        It doesn't. As a Canadian, I can say there is always great debate about this, and especially now. Our current Conservative leaders are trying to push through the purchase of 65 F-35 fighters. These are the same jets the US military is delaying or considering scrapping at this point due to cost overruns. The estimates for costs on these jets is over 30B Canadian dollars. In my opinion, our military is a glorified search and rescue team at home and a police force++ abroad. Canada needs an armed forces that is good with dealing with national disasters and supporting human crisis. We should be investing in helicopters and ships. If the day comes that Russia or the USA decides to take our natural resources, 65 fighter jets aren't going to make any difference compared to their vast armies. So why not invest in technology that can be used to address the actual problems we face?
        daliusd 15y ago
        I'm not Canadian so I have no idea. I just know some cool things about Canada.
- meric 15y ago
  South Korea?
- ajuc 15y ago
  When the given advice is "don't fake elections", I disagree with you - everybody in the world is qualified to give such advices.

10 points by sasvari 15y ago

ck2 15y ago

Maybe, just maybe, there isn't a single country in the world qualified right now to be giving out advice on how to run another country.

daliusd 15y ago
Short answer: Canada Long answer: "Economist" is not the country. It would be too brave to say that "Economist" represents any country at all. Another problem: mixing economical, social and other problems into one pot is not good thing to do. Is it bad to take advice about marriage from neighbor who had to sold one of two cars because of crisis? Therefore why not Canada?
- ck2 15y ago
  Canada (still) does some things well but correct me if I am wrong, they are feeling the grip of a conservative movement lately and they are trying to push their oil pipeline onto the USA by threatening to sell it elsewhere cheaper. The author of that article goes to great lengths to appear neutral and just cover the facts but again, whatever perspective the author is coming from - I don't see too many countries with a working model right now, and the ones that are getting by typically have a big positive in their favor - no massively funded military, so no military industrial complex welfare.
  - daliusd 15y ago
    What do you mean by "working model" ? Economical crisis in USA looks completely different from economical, human rights and political crises in Russia. In country I live economical crisis and diplomatic situation (bad relations with Russia) leads to situation that is different from Russia and USA. While we don't define what is "working model" it is empty talk. Is it happiness index - then let's act like Denmark. Are we talking about country that lived well through economical crisis - Canada, China or Brasil. Should we look at good human rights and living conditions: then only Canada (maybe Brasil for some people). P.S. Canada is 13rd in the world by military expenditure.
    - ajuc 15y ago
      Don't treat this as being rude, I'm just curious - why does Canada need so big military expenses? In my (uninformed) opinion Canada is as safe, as anybody can be in modern world - ocean on each border with one exception - USA, that is friendly, and if it's not, Canada don't stand a chance with them anyway.
      - garyrichardson 15y ago
        It doesn't. As a Canadian, I can say there is always great debate about this, and especially now. Our current Conservative leaders are trying to push through the purchase of 65 F-35 fighters. These are the same jets the US military is delaying or considering scrapping at this point due to cost overruns. The estimates for costs on these jets is over 30B Canadian dollars. In my opinion, our military is a glorified search and rescue team at home and a police force++ abroad. Canada needs an armed forces that is good with dealing with national disasters and supporting human crisis. We should be investing in helicopters and ships. If the day comes that Russia or the USA decides to take our natural resources, 65 fighter jets aren't going to make any difference compared to their vast armies. So why not invest in technology that can be used to address the actual problems we face?
      - daliusd 15y ago
        I'm not Canadian so I have no idea. I just know some cool things about Canada.
meric 15y ago
South Korea?
ajuc 15y ago
When the given advice is "don't fake elections", I disagree with you - everybody in the world is qualified to give such advices.