Posted on 12/02/2014 9:31:45 AM PST by Pan_Yan
The decline in the price of oil, Western economic sanctions against the nation following its invasion of Ukraine, and the collapse of the Russian rouble that resulted, has decimated Russia's economy.
Now Russian GDP has shrunk so much it is no longer the world's eighth largest economic power, according to The Telegraph. Instead, Putin's Russia is now carries roughly the same economic weight as ... Spain:
Russia has lost its ranking as the world’s eighth biggest economy, shrinking in just nine months from a $2.1 trillion petro-giant to a mid-size player comparable with Korea or Spain.
For the past several years, Spain has been regarded as one of Europe's more feeble economies, with 1 in 4 Spaniards unemployed. Spain's GDP was about $1.4 trillion in 2013, according to the World Bank. Spain was the 13th biggest economy on the planet until Putin ordered tanks into the Crimea.
Now it is likely that Italy, India, Canada, and Australia are all more economically significant than Russia.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Population of Spain — 46M
Population of Russia — 143M
Russia is weaker than many suspect.
But then again, so are we.
Yeah but what other country has a leader who likes to ride horses topless?
Well, ours rides something topless, but I’m sure it ain’t a horse................
Remember when we squeezed Japan in the 1930’s? Yeah, they bombed us
Yep. Beware the cornered bear ... especially one with nukes.
You are confusing “bareback” with topless.
lol!...THAT TOO!...............
Scary trend, because wars usually start due to severe economic upheaval.
Who knew that Pearl Harbor was our fault? So what explains these Japanese actions in the 1930s and early 1940s prior to attacking us?
1931
Japanese forces occupy Manchuria (a very rich piece of land with pit-coal, iron, copper, lead and gold) and called it Manchukuo as an independent state, with their President Poe Yi.
Sept 18 - Units of the Japanese Kwantung Army attack the Chinese 7th Brigade at its barracks near Mukden. Japan sought to justify its actions by claiming that a section of the South Manchurian Railway had been sabotaged by the Chinese. In fact, Japanese officials in Tokyo and Manchuria contrived the incident; their objective was to acquire the region's natural resources and obtain strategic position against the Soviet Union. In an effort to have plausible deniability, the Japanese government widely used the term "Kwantung Army" to refer to forces it claimed it couldn't control. In fact, the military's control was always firm.
1937
Japan's plan for the extension is along the coast of weak China, Japanese forces capture Nanking, real China.
1938
Chinese forces breach the dykes along the Yellow River to slow the Japan advancing forces. Over 1,000,000 Chinese peasants dies in the floods and fighting.
Japan proclaims a "New Order in East Asia", with Japan as the lead nation.
1939
Japanese troops occupy Hainan Island.
1940
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. Aim is to discourage the United States for a more active involvement in the war.
1941
24 July - The Japanese occupy French Indo-China with the consent of the Vichy French Government.
December 7 - Japanese aircraft launch a surprise attack on American naval forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Imperial Government of Japan declares war to Britain, Canada, Australia and the United States.
December 8 - Japanese troops invade The Philippines and Malaya, attack Hong Kong, and bomb Guam.
December 24 - Japanese troops land in the Philippines near Luzon with about 7.000 men. MacArthur formed his troops in defensive lines to the north, but knew reinforcements will not arrive in time.
Decenter 25 - British forces surrender Hong Kong to the Japanese.
If there is any comparability to what Japan did and what Russia is doing now, it is that both seized parts of countries and established puppet governments. Putin has taken over Crimea and has designs on Eastern Ukraine. Putin has staged multiple provocations with NATO.
Korea or Spain.... does this author really have Korea in the “feeble” economy list
We are not “squeeing” Russia
So did Hitler. So why did Putin invade Ukraine and seize Crimea? If we don't confront the punk, scumbag Putin, do you think he will go away or not want to reconstitute the Soviet Union? How do you think we should respond to naked aggression?
Sure appeasement always works. The US should have appeased expansionist Japan before WWII by continuing to allow oil exports.
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