T-14 tanks with the Armata Universal Combat Platforms. © SPUTNIK/ EVGENY BIYATOV
Alina Polyakova, The Atlantic: Russia Is a Great Power Once Again
Putin’s Syria intervention saved Assad. But is he ready for what comes next?
In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory over the Islamic State in Syria. This, of course, was the objective the Kremlin announced in 2015, when Russia first intervened in the country. Yet from the outset, the Russian air campaign primarily hit non-ISIS targets. It soon became clear that Putin’s chief goal was to ensure the future of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator. With Russian military backing, Assad, whose demise was once the ostensible focus of U.S. policy in Syria, has secured his regime’s survival and taken back swathes of territory previously held by U.S.-backed rebels.
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WNU Editor: No .... Russia is not a great power .... just another power. And while the Syrian war has propelled Russia into a major player in the Middle East .... this is temporary. The Syrian war will end one day, and the bill to repair the mess will be due. In this regard .... Russia does not have the funds .... nor is there any support in Russia .... to rebuild Syria. And I suspect that many countries will not fill in the void with Russia being in the background and Assad in command.
12 comments:
WNU,
You are right on the financial way. But Russia is still a great power with 7,000 nuclear warhead.
Russia is a great military power.
Importantly though,Russia is no longer a great cultural or economic powerhouse.
Culturally and economically, Russia is pretty much isolated. Who here has ever cited a Russian inventor or businessman lately? Who here believes Russians?
Russia suffers from a cultural and spiritual decline. Its sole focus is on being a military powerhouse and its sole strategy seems to be to define itself as a military opponent to the US. And it has succeeded in that regard. But it comes at a huge cost internationally. Its alleged meddling in the US and Europe has led to a lot of pushback and isolation. And it is this lack of being able to counter US and Europe's actions on a political or economic level that shows Russia's limitations more than anything. There seems to be no grand strategy (like china's south China strategy or china's one belt road)..what has Russia done lately other than war and hacking? It's being embarrassed left and right, and Putin barely holds on. The attack on an American Base ended perhaps 200:0, the Olympics was an embarrassment too.
As long as Putin stays and this old thinking of "the west is the enemy" this won't change. Because "the west" and its ideology is no longer just in the west. It is everywhere. Japan is now the west. Australia is now the west. Arguably India is now the west.
What does Russia stand for? It's embraced capitalism. Great. But more so it embraced corruption and mafia style rule. That's not the west. Russia is trapped in a limbo of nor knowing who it is unless it defines itself as opposing force to the west. But that's a losing path. It's like feminism always defining itself through men. You cannot make advances this way. Russia needs a spiritual awakening and finally needs to decide if they really want to be at perpetuous conflict with "the west"(pretty much all of the world now) or if they finally join us. I personally crave for Russia to join the west/the larger world community, and stop all of these conflicts with us. It's silly and undermines its own future.
Anon,
All that you said is true. And well said on Russia.
What Putin’s short to mid term plan is to continue to hook up with the other great repressive influence in the world, China. With their axis they wield great military, economic and political power. This does not bode well for the world in my opinion.
Any nation with 1000s of nukes is a great power.
Russia. Always underestimated.
China+Russia will he the future in my opinion
Their Nucs make them a power but not a "great" power. They are broke and their military is a regional power at best.
Is Russia a great power "again?" Any country with thousands of nuclear weapons, a broad base of allies, top notch intelligence services, and some of the best trained, best led, and most motivated military forces on the planet is a major power.
Actually Russia has been a major power for quite some time. I'm pleased to see that some are finally starting to catch on. Once enough people catch on, we can formulate policies that have a chance to be effective. Suggestion: Russia is at least an equal, treat them as such, respect them, and good outcomes are possible. This does NOT mean we are going to agree with them on everything nor will cooperation be possible in all areas, however, the above suggestion is an excellent starting point. Currently the US is trying to "punch above its weight." As long as this continues, the hole for us only gets deeper. As I have said, when in a hole the first thing you do is STOP DIGGING!!
"China+Russia will be the future in my opinion." I'm actually not that pessimistic but this is a real possibility especially if US and "western" leaders continue with the same misguided policies. It probably would be a good idea for US leaders and individuals to learn how to get around and function in a world that is dominated by Russia, China, and their allies. The current course where we would go out of our way to have Russia especially as an enemy seems counterproductive.
Furthermore excluding Russia as a great power because it cannot afford to rebuild Syria seems to narrow of a focus. The US with its 20+ trillion in debt, aging infrastructure that needs to be replaced, aging population needing substantial healthcare, numerous maimed soldiers needing substantial healthcare due to fruitless and pointless foreign interventions, and a military that has been ground to powder with an army that pretty much needs to be rebuilt from the ground up is certainly in no position to fix Syria either.
So, yes Russia is a great power, has been for quite some time, and it is good to see some are finally catching on. When enough catch on, we can finally begin to formulate sensible foreign policies towards nations like Russia.
Nice piece of fiction there poster..lol...
Take away the nukes and how great would they be?
2018 Lada anyone?
Stephen,
What precisely is the "fiction" here? In fact, I have generally observed that "lol" type responses such as yours are generally the actions of an insecure mind who does not hold a very secure position that is supportable by facts.
It is the contention of the author that the editor linked to that
Russia is a great power. Also, other commenters here appear to hold to such a position.
"Any nation with thousands of nukes is a great power." Actually we could stop right there, analysis over. Russia is a great power. With that said, continuing on!!
'Russia. Always underestimated." Very true. This one seems obvious. When will our leaders learn?
"China+Russia will be the future in my opinion." Again, I'm not that pessimistic, however, those two nations have been the most successful thus far in the 21st century. If the trajectory continues, this is a real possibility.
Russia has demonstrated in Syria, Ukraine, and Georgia that it has very capable military forces. During the Georgian war retired Col. Ralph Peters was forced to admit the Russians were able to demonstrate capabilities in terms of troop movements and deployments that would be problematic at best for the United States to do. This is NOT to suggest that the US military is not formidable. Russia is a very powerful country, a great power, and needs to be treated as such. Also, it is obvious that the US military across all branches has been worn down and is need of upgrades as well as improvements in training, leadership, and morale. The editor of this site has linked to a number of articles that attest to this.
I will reiterate. Treat Russia as an equal, respect them, and try to work with them where possible. This does NOT mean we are going to agree on everything and in some areas cooperation may not be possible. The same generally applies to China. Undertake these constructive changes and good outcomes for us are possible. Otherwise keep banging your head against a brick wall thinking that wall is going to somehow move!!
"Take away the nukes and how great would they be?" The same thing could be said about America as well.
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