Biden says US will defend Taiwan if China attacks

submitted by TheJamesRocket from self.debatealtright

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[–][deleted]  (3 children)

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    [–]casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

    It’s also conceivable that Putin will take a gamble on Ukraine and move in if China chooses to act.

    I think Putin is wiser than that. That risks escalating into a world war. In a general state of war, it could drag the EU into a war with Russia as well. Putin is a very cautious man and I think he'll wait out a sino-American war. Both sides will be weaker at the end of it, regardless of the victor. If it leads to a nuclear exchange, they'd be even weaker, giving Russia a much stronger hand in the post-war world.

    He'd prefer that China win and throughout the war, he'll sell gas, oil, raw materials, food and arms to China. The US would not like it, but wouldn't do anything about it as an attack on Russian infrastructure is tantamount to a declaration of war on Russia and Russia arguably has the strongest nuclear arsenal in the world.

    Russia would get fat from all the money they'd make from oil, gas, arms, and grain sale, and it would be more powerful on the world stage at the conclusion of the war. The same goes for the EU. Their manufacturing would make a killing in absence of China on the world stage.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

    giving Russia a much stronger hand in the post-war world.

    Russia's economy is really small. GDP of the US is 20936.60 billion vs Russia's 1483.50 billion. It's like a US state with nukes bargaining on the world stage. They'd have a stronger hand in that scenario, sure, but would it really matter when there's only so much they could even afford to do?

    [–]casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    This is misleading. By PPP calculations, Russia has a GDP of 4.3 trillion dollars. This is the measure for Russia as its essentially an autarky and produces everything it needs domestically.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)

    Plus, Russia has other means that already make it a significant global power:

    *The world's second largest arms industry

    *The world's largest nuclear arsenal

    *The worlds largest gas exporter

    *The world's 2nd largest oil exporter

    *The world's 3rd strongest military

    *The world's largest wheat exporter

    *One of the world's top three food exporters.

    *The most resource rich country in the world with aluminium, zinc, titanium and chromium reserves that form a vital part of the world market.

    Its far more influential on the world stage than a country like Britain or France. Russia also has the ability to project power independently, as seen from its intervention in Syria, Ukraine and Libya.

    A weakened US and China would give it a greater hand. It could position itself as the military protector of Eastern Europe.