Posted on 12/12/2014 12:09:12 AM PST by wetphoenix
It seems Russian President Vladimir Putin just found an ally.
On Thursday, Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in New Delhi to improve the energy, military, and trade alliances between their two nations.
For starters, Russia and India will be exploring a stronger relationship in the energy sector.
The two countries will build at least 10 nuclear power plants in India over the next 20 years, and will have a joint venture in exploring hydroelectric power projects in Asia.
Additionally, Russia's state-owned Rosneft signed a preliminary agreement to supply India with 10 million tons of oil over the next 10 years.
And the most eyebrow-raising move of all is that Russia invited India to "work on projects" in the Arctic.
"Rosneft and Gazprom, our biggest companies, together with their Indian colleagues, are preparing projects for the development of Russian-Arctic shelf [and] the expansion of liquefied gas," Putin said.
Why is this point important, exactly?
In September, Rosneft discovered a huge amount of oil in the Arctic — an amount that's comparable to the resource base of Saudi Arabia.
But there was also a huge problem: Russia doesn't have the ability to drill in cold offshore conditions without Exxon's expertise. But because of the ongoing sanctions, Exxon can't drill there anymore.
And “as Russia’s existing fields in Siberia run dry, the country needs to develop new reserves as it vies with the US to be the world’s largest oil and gas producer,” Bloomberg reported in September. So Russia really needs that oil in the Arctic.
The partnership was also key for Exxon. Since Russia is the company's second-biggest exploration area, this is a critical loss.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Russia has really done itself harm. I don’t relish the idea, because I would like to see Russia as one of our allies.
Folks, lets face it. The Caucasian race is being cornered. The rest of the world, read that the U. N. and other Leftist/Marxist entities want to end the positive influence the White race has had on global affairs.
So what does Putin do? Why he plays right into this, causing a divide in the Western potential clients, his own nation among them.
We need to stick together and combat this.
Putin has no idea how idiotic his actions are for Russian self-interest.
The man is a mental midget.
Right now he could be rolling in the good graces of a Western alliance. Instead he Fs up at every turn.
Tragic is about the only word that fits here.
I can't imagine why would he be in love with the West after all these sanctions. He even *physically* cannot deal with the West anymore, as many of his people are in the EU's list of prohibited persons. He can't even trust the EU anymore, as France took his money but is reluctant to deliver the finished goods (and apparently having no clue what will the decision be in the end.) It'd be a challenge to find a worse collection of unreliable partners...
This is a very well known problem with pushing someone away: as you do that, you lose control. Sanctions work only against a country that can be fully controlled, like North Korea. Sanctions against 1/6th of the Earth's landmass are only going to result in shifting of allegiances and in development of domestic industry. Some journalists have already pointed out that money that was initially slated to be paid to western companies will now be paid to Russian businesses and to joint ventures with more pliable partners - like India and China. That's a foreign policy achievement that only top notch diplomats like Hillary Clinton or John Kerry would be proud of. (Every other diplomat would immediately submit their resignation letter.)
Oh, by the way - all this enormous political capital was spent over what cause of galactic importance? Ukraine? The conflict there has fizzled out already, and resulted in zero political changes compared to the situation in, say, March. Except that Donetsk is now sitting on 2 million tons of coal in stock and refusing to sell it to Ukraine when Ukraine has no coal left to run country's powerplants. Ukrainians are now stuck with several hours per day of no power and no heat. The attempt to buy African coal failed - at least because African coal is not compatible with Ukrainian powerplants, which were designed for use of local fuel. Poland should have lots of coal, but for some reason they aren't in any hurry to offer it. I read that Ukraine is now buying Russian coal.
“Right now he could be rolling in the good graces of a Western alliance. Instead he Fs up at every turn.”
But that would not fit with his “reconquista” mentality. He only thinks of rebuilding the USSR, which is a pipe dream. But he’s going to try anyway unless the oligarchs decide to off him because the economic mess he’s making is cutting into their profits. As an “economist,” he’s right up there with Nichoas Maduro over in Venezuela.
Tragic indeed. Putin is playing a game of economic and political chicken with the West, evidently unaware of the nasty crash he is hurtling his country toward. He believes himself to be winning, as he is egged on by the Russian people - evidenced by his soaring popularity. The trouble is that his bravado and childish stunts are about to come to a screeching halt when the Russian economy collapses as oil drops to below $50 per barrel and no one will be around to lend him the cash they need to stay afloat, except perhaps for China.
I have been parroting the points made by both of you for some time here & elsewhere...only to end up proudly wearing scars as a result.
The local radio station (yes, there is only one worth a crap) had ‘the Candy Bomber’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Halvorsen
on for its Dec. 7th special. I think that merits some analysis.
I’ve stated that ‘Putin won’t be around forever’ to calls of war with Russia over Ukraine...all in the ridiculous name of ‘preemption’ while ignoring the larger geopolitical picture on which you both elaborate. Driving Russia to engage China & others is simply irrational and feeds the argument that the whole WOT was 1000% more costly and involved than needed while accomplishing, in 20/20 hindsight, nearly nothing for our security...
...save for making a few stronger and our freedoms fewer...
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