A brief background to the American-Russian enmity and the conflict in Ukraine.

submitted by casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter from self.debatealtright

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[–]casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

By PPP, Russia has the largest economy in Europe on par with Germany.

Military power is the final arbiter of world politics and the Russian military is stronger than France, Germany, and Britain combined.

[–]EthnocratArcheofuturist 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

But, but, but, muh GDP!!!

[–]casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

These people literally think that just by having money in a country you can run it. This is true of liberal democracies to an extent but it is not the case with dictatorial regimes. The dictator can just kill you and take your money if you get too uppity. Sure, ''international society'' will protest your punishment but this type of pressure doesn't work on serious powers like Russia, China, or Iran. It does work on tinpot African despots and military Juntas in Latin America though.

[–]EthnocratArcheofuturist 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0hTrnaa8aE

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Germany 3846.4bn, Russia 1,483.5bn. Less than half. And they're trying to maintain the largest nuclear stockpile with less money than a US state... I think it's reasonable to assume they don't work.

[–]casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)#:~:text=GDP%20(PPP)%20means%20gross%20domestic,or%20government%20official%20exchange%20rates.

The actual Russian military budget is 150-200 billion dollars.

https://warontherocks.com/2019/12/why-russian-military-expenditure-is-much-higher-than-commonly-understood-as-is-chinas/

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

recent RAND report caricatured Russia as a weakling rogue state.

how can a military budget the size of the United Kingdom’s be used to maintain over a million personnel while simultaneously procuring vast quantities of capable military equipment?

And your article is making the case why all appearances are wrong. I say they probably aren't.