Making Russia Grate Again

Russia continues to annoy the West with their bizarre hostility but it has done nothing but prompt NATO to rearm a bit while China quietly grows into a real threat in the east. In what manner is Putin succeeding other than in bolstering his own authority?

Achieving this is not a sign of greatness:

Since 2014 Russia has been making a lot of headlines but not much else. The economy is a mess, the country has fewer allies and the future looks dim. Invading Ukraine and Syria has not helped solve any of the fundamental problems but have made for great propaganda. ...

Meanwhile China, the only real threat to Russia, quietly makes progress in the east. There China has claims on much of the Russian Far East and is openly replacing Russia as the primary economic, military and political force in Central Asia.

As I noted at the end of last year, Russia's strategic position sucks. That Putin has made it worse by alienating the West just increases the scale of the suckitude.

#WhyRussiaCan'tHaveNiceThings