Germany won't (can't) embargo Russian energy, which means: NATO is a dead letter, the EU will likely change in the same direction, and prices will continue to rise: prepare for shortages
Are you following Samo Burja? I think he's offered some of the best analysis of what's going on in Russia/Ukraine at the moment. Some key points of his:
(1) Russian air force isn't very strong, but the land forces are very strong and able to occupy and annex territory. If you keep this in mind, it appears that Russian forces are making far more progress in Ukraine than the Western sources (baffled by the non-use of air force) would have you believe.
(2) Russia will most likely annex Eastern and perhaps Southern Ukraine, and try to turn the rest into a puppet state.
In other news... There are Ukrainian flags all over Prague, and a non-trivial number of my colleagues are wearing them. I was going to suggest to them that they wear a Chinese flag instead, since they're de facto strengthening China, while cheering on the total destruction of the Ukraine, but I decided to bite my tongue. As for China: Xi Jinping must be salivating. Just imagine. The West is forcing Russia to turn increasingly to China, both for energy export, and for financial transactions and such (now that SWIFT/PayPal/Via/Mastercard have withdrawn from Russia; although I believe SWIFT hasn't withdrawn completely). And yeah, if our elites don't suddenly sprout a brain, those of us in Europe might end up shivering in the dark in the not too distant future...
Maybe not. How has this damaged or threatened the US? A probable scenario in 6 months is a conservative (Republican) super-majority in Washington, that sidelines the President and resumes net petroleum exports. The end of climate hysteria (lessons from the German experience) will boost the US economy. The 45 yr. cold war, AKA Pax Americana, was great for the US. The West need only wait for China's corruption and impending demographic nightmare to bear its awful fruit.
Russia can't afford to withhold oil and Europe must buy. Ukraine will be split and a new iron curtain established.
Furthermore, Russia has shown its weakness. It's a second rate power that requires months to subdue an under-equipped neighbor state like Ukraine. Russia is no real threat to NATO nations in conventional war. NATO would gain total air superiority in days, and Russia knows it. Russia's total GDP is that of Tokyo.
Thanks for the report and opinions! Greetings from Germany, with the same blue sky, same lack of snow, and same high gas prices.
Are you following Samo Burja? I think he's offered some of the best analysis of what's going on in Russia/Ukraine at the moment. Some key points of his:
(1) Russian air force isn't very strong, but the land forces are very strong and able to occupy and annex territory. If you keep this in mind, it appears that Russian forces are making far more progress in Ukraine than the Western sources (baffled by the non-use of air force) would have you believe.
(2) Russia will most likely annex Eastern and perhaps Southern Ukraine, and try to turn the rest into a puppet state.
In other news... There are Ukrainian flags all over Prague, and a non-trivial number of my colleagues are wearing them. I was going to suggest to them that they wear a Chinese flag instead, since they're de facto strengthening China, while cheering on the total destruction of the Ukraine, but I decided to bite my tongue. As for China: Xi Jinping must be salivating. Just imagine. The West is forcing Russia to turn increasingly to China, both for energy export, and for financial transactions and such (now that SWIFT/PayPal/Via/Mastercard have withdrawn from Russia; although I believe SWIFT hasn't withdrawn completely). And yeah, if our elites don't suddenly sprout a brain, those of us in Europe might end up shivering in the dark in the not too distant future...
Maybe not. How has this damaged or threatened the US? A probable scenario in 6 months is a conservative (Republican) super-majority in Washington, that sidelines the President and resumes net petroleum exports. The end of climate hysteria (lessons from the German experience) will boost the US economy. The 45 yr. cold war, AKA Pax Americana, was great for the US. The West need only wait for China's corruption and impending demographic nightmare to bear its awful fruit.
Russia can't afford to withhold oil and Europe must buy. Ukraine will be split and a new iron curtain established.
Furthermore, Russia has shown its weakness. It's a second rate power that requires months to subdue an under-equipped neighbor state like Ukraine. Russia is no real threat to NATO nations in conventional war. NATO would gain total air superiority in days, and Russia knows it. Russia's total GDP is that of Tokyo.
Decline of the us empire. Thank you