Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Russian Professor Predicts Fall of U.S.
Wall St. Journal ^ | Dec. 29,2008 | Andrew Osborn

Posted on 12/29/2008 8:14:34 PM PST by phoenix07

MOSCOW -- For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously. Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media.

Igor Panarin In recent weeks, he's been interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions. "It's a record," says Prof. Panarin. "But I think the attention is going to grow even stronger."

Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations.

But it's his bleak forecast for the U.S. that is music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis. Mr. Panarin's views also fit neatly with the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is returning to its rightful place on the world stage after the weakness of the 1990s, when many feared that the country would go economically and politically bankrupt and break into separate territories.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: predictions; russia
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last
I somehow think the state of Arizona would NOT go into any kind of deal with California - or for that matter, agree to become part of Mexico. This guy is full of prunes.
1 posted on 12/29/2008 8:14:35 PM PST by phoenix07
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

More responses to same story here......

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2155548/posts


2 posted on 12/29/2008 8:19:40 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

Sitting here shaking my head. There is NO WAY that Utah, Idaho, or eastern Washington or Oregon would align themselves with California. Ditto for large parts of Nevada.

Wyoming joining with Canada. Huh? UNBELIEVABLE!


3 posted on 12/29/2008 8:20:59 PM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

I don’t think there will be a civil war. Unrest, riots, maybe. But not civil war.


4 posted on 12/29/2008 8:22:19 PM PST by Tanniker Smith (Teachers open the door. It's up to you to enter. Before the late bell. When I close the door.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07
I think this guy is a crackpot. On the hand, Obama may mess things up so much America simply will not survive in its current form.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

5 posted on 12/29/2008 8:22:22 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

Well if the DimocRATS have anything to do with it....


6 posted on 12/29/2008 8:24:44 PM PST by TribalPrincess2U (Welcome to Obama's America... Be afraid, be very afraid)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07
Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media US MSM and Democrat Party.

There ... fixxed it ....

7 posted on 12/29/2008 8:26:31 PM PST by Mr_Moonlight
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

It beats paying off the national debt for the next 200 years.


8 posted on 12/29/2008 8:27:10 PM PST by RC one
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

I had a nightmare of a battallion of Halfricans inexorably marching towards my city toting guns with Obama at their head ...The fall began years ago ...Climax approaching .


9 posted on 12/29/2008 8:30:17 PM PST by sushiman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

This has been a dream of the political left for a long time.

Remember that Ayers, back in his Weatherman days, stated the exact same thing in an interview. After bringing down the US, it would be broken up into several regions, which would be taken over by other countries.

Nothing new here. We are just getting closer to the possibility. It is interesting that the Russian professor mentions immigration (mostly illegal) as one of the catalysts.


10 posted on 12/29/2008 8:31:01 PM PST by ChicagahAl (So your bumper sticker says: "Don't blame me, I didn't vote!"? Duh!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07
When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.

Maybe in 50-100 years, but not by 2010.

11 posted on 12/29/2008 8:34:07 PM PST by OCC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07
I'd say he's full of fermented potatoes. Texas owned by Mexico? HA!

The fact is that through years of government tampering, social engineering, and the degradation of discipline and education, we are in a serious hole that I can't imagine how we're going to crawl out of it. That part of his thesis doesn't require prophetic insight to see.

But if there was ever another civil war - who owns all the guns? Coastal liberals?

12 posted on 12/29/2008 8:34:47 PM PST by uncommonsense
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

Sure....bring it, Professor.


13 posted on 12/29/2008 8:36:50 PM PST by Victor (If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert." -David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07
United States of North America is a more likely outcome.


14 posted on 12/29/2008 8:37:56 PM PST by OCC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07
United States of North America is a more likely outcome.


15 posted on 12/29/2008 8:38:11 PM PST by OCC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

Just a few posts away he is about half right.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2155950/posts
(Read the Jefferson says post.) The part about a few getting tired of supporting the many. Other divisions are quite possible too. Our borders are a joke, our military is about to be halved, gas is going back to 4 bucks a gallon. At some point sane people will say enough. This guy chuckles when he talks about the violence part and what would set that off today (former KGB guy thinking about Kennedy, take your pick which one.) This guy isn’t a genius, he’s just reading the writing on the wall. What has always made America great is freedom, competition, capitalism, patriotism, natural resources, individualism, best education and our manufacturing capabilities. These things are all under direct attack (with amazing success) from within and abroad.
This is the same guy that will write Russian school history books that say the whole “CCP collapse thing” was a decoy for operation screw America.


16 posted on 12/29/2008 8:39:09 PM PST by enduserindy (I hope he proves us wrong. Really, I do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TribalPrincess2U
music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis.

Not to mention ingrown toenails, slugs slithering across the the patio, a flat tire on the Interstate, a burned out lightbulb, pimples, warts, a stuck drain, crabgrass, LP's that skip, bad TV reception, Stucco paint, worn Teflon cookware.

Have I left anything out?

17 posted on 12/29/2008 8:44:22 PM PST by Mr_Moonlight
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07
Understandable that the prof would invent such tripe; it's a good moneymaker given the madness and nationalism, and mad nationalism, of Russian media. But it would be really pitiful if he actually believed it. The bit about Alaska returning to Russia is extra rich. Years ago there was a Russian pop song, Ne valiai duraka, Amerika ("Don't Play the Fool, America") that went on about how the US ought to give Alaska back. At the time everyone saw it for what it was, crazy fun stuff. Now this sort of thing is taken seriously by many.
18 posted on 12/29/2008 8:44:27 PM PST by Mogwai (Palin/Santorum 2012!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

Time to cut Igor off. He’s been hitting the vodka too hard again.


19 posted on 12/29/2008 8:47:53 PM PST by advance_copy (Stand for life or nothing at all)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: phoenix07

Nothing personal Phoenix, but this article has already been posted so many times that the only thing missing is a hooker with an old Soviet flag for a skirt waving at passing posters.


20 posted on 12/29/2008 8:51:16 PM PST by mkjessup
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson