Posted on 03/29/2022 10:39:54 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski
This brief summarizes a report that comprehensively examines nonviolent, cost-imposing options that the United States and its allies could pursue across economic, political, and military areas to stress—overextend and unbalance—Russia’s economy and armed forces and the regime's political standing at home and abroad. Some of the options examined are clearly more promising than others, but any would need to be evaluated in terms of the overall U.S. strategy for dealing with Russia, which neither the report nor this brief has attempted to do.
The maxim that “Russia is never so strong nor so weak as it appears” remains as true in the current century as it was in the 19th and 20th.
Today’s Russia suffers from many vulnerabilities—oil and gas prices well below peak that have caused a drop in living standards, economic sanctions that have furthered that decline, an aging and soon-to-be-declining population, and increasing authoritarianism under Vladimir Putin’s now-continued rule. Such vulnerabilities are coupled with deep-seated (if exaggerated) anxieties about the possibility of Western-inspired regime change, loss of great power status, and even military attack.
Despite these vulnerabilities and anxieties, Russia remains a powerful country that still manages to be a U.S. peer competitor in a few key domains. Recognizing that some level of competition with Russia is inevitable, RAND researchers conducted a qualitative assessment of “cost-imposing options” that could unbalance and overextend Russia. Such cost-imposing options could place new burdens on Russia, ideally heavier burdens than would be imposed on the United States for pursuing those options…
(Excerpt) Read more at rand.org ...
What a bunch of malicious @sshoes.
Russia’s population is in decline. The only reason they show growth after 2015 was the annexation of Crimea.
Putin is not about to lose what the Orientals call “face”.
The typical American lifestyle is far above the average lifestyle.
Getting near daily deliveries from Amazon is extremely rare in Russia.
The everyday things Russians buy come from Russia - bread, veggies, meat and energy.
The apartment buildings Russians typically live in will withstand decades of sanctions.
The trams and buses urban Russians get around in will continue to function.
Replacement car & tractor parts can and will be made, in Russia.
Putin lives in far more luxurious residential circumstances than even Hollywood stars. Those structures are centuries old. They will still stand even after Hunter Biden’s offspring die of old age.
“The only reason they show growth after 2015 was the annexation of Crimea.”
Reagan used to say they were a parasite that needed to suck the life out of smaller victim countries for them to survive. How spot on that assessment was.
It is my understanding that in Russia WW2 is called the Great Patriotic War. It unified the Soviet Union.
“Replacement car & tractor parts can and will be made, in Russia.”
Yup, it’s actually quite easy. You pop open the hood, take some pictures with the DupliPart app, pick the part you want and click “Send to 3D Printer” and out pops the part.
This is how arrogant and out-of-touch-with-reality DC neocons and central-planners think.
“Expanding oil production to drive down prices” sounds so clever, but they don’t mention that the US oil industry lost a collective $250 billion in the 8 years before 2021 due to their “success” in fracking. No one in the US oil industry or their financiers will go through that again.
True. That’s why Pidor Putin is so insistent that NATO surrender Eastern Europe to Russia. The kleptocrats have pillaged Russia and now they need fresh meat.
Screw that little prick! I hope someone in the Russian military zots him and then follows up by executing the oligarchs.
Then maybe Russia might have a chance to make it to 2100 in one piece.
Maybe.
Russia’s economy is about the size of Italy’s. Russia is not the problem.
The groups threatening our country are the Cartels - and cartels working with the Chinese.
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