sidcow Posted March 8, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 8, 2022 36 minutes ago, hippo said: Who blinks first.....I don't see the west sanctions holding - as soon as hostilities cease govt and business will go creeping back... Any plans for Western governments to increase defence spending will soon be swept under the carpet as elections draw near and tax cuts need to be promised. I'm not so sure. I think this has been a really big wake up call. But if a completely different regime was in charge? Maybe, who knows. I do think the West will accelerate mining away from fossil fuels though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted March 8, 2022 Moderator Share Posted March 8, 2022 57 minutes ago, Awol said: Russia trying to frame future European security architecture as a bilateral issue between Washington and Moscow, denying the agency of European states. That approach has succeeded historically but is unlikely to fly again now, whichever side tries it - unless Germany’s epiphany on Defence was just a cynical ploy to distract from its reprehensible behaviour towards Ukraine. Oddly enough, and it's something that's probably important in the psyche of the Russians to this war - it's a concept that's unlikely to fly because Russia no longer really qualifies as a world power - this war is becoming a stark demonstration of that - other than its nuclear capacity it has no real ability to wield influence - they're India with more bombs and a significantly worse economy. Washington no longer has to care as much as it did about the actions of the Russian state - they can deal with the owners, not the operators. What will be interesting isn't what will happen to Ukraine - I think ultimately Ukraine will emerge either as an independent or Westernised nation within the global economic structure - it's what will happen to Russia that's interesting. It's hard to see a future for the Russian people that's not a complete mess, that's not horribly difficult to live under. I think we'll see the military power, including its nuclear capabilities curtailed, we may see further breakout states, the stripping out of natural resources in a way that we've only seen historically in Africa, and the potential for a Russian refugee crisis as they look to better lives elsewhere. In a peculiar way, their decades old fear of falling victim of global Western capitalism may be about to appear - and at their own hand, by their own people and with their own money. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted March 8, 2022 Moderator Share Posted March 8, 2022 42 minutes ago, hippo said: Who blinks first.....I don't see the west sanctions holding - as soon as hostilities cease govt and business will go creeping back... I don't think they will go creeping back - that's not how it works anymore. The sanctions will bring damage, the damage will bring chaos and the chaos will bring opportunity. Western banks won't go back to trading normally with Russian gas and oil companies, they'll go forward as the owners of former Russian gas and oil companies. Break it, buy it cheap, fix it, make money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 From this map which was current this morning, Russia is trying to batter its way through the Kyiv suburb of Irpin with element of three Airborne Divisions and an Airborne Brigade (collectively abbreviated as VDV if you’re reading Twitter etc.). That’s really the cream of Russia’s army and this is not how they are supposed to be employed, but it shows 1) how hard Ukrainians are resisting, and 2) the pressure on the Russian command to make progress (they’re not making progress right now though). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 Once again, noises out of Russia along the lines of “can’t we all just get along?” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 I'm more worried about the Ukrainian Farmers Alliance now, than I am of Russian Federation Army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 Really good thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 3 minutes ago, Genie said: Once again, noises out of Russia along the lines of “can’t we all just get along?” Was it Mars Attacks the aliens say we come in peace while shooting everything up. Maybe this is the Russian inspiration 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GarethRDR Posted March 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted March 8, 2022 17 hours ago, TheAuthority said: Along the same lines, I became friends with an eccentric retired rocket scientist a few years back. There it is. We've finally found it. The weirdest flex in VillaTalk history. Bravo sir. 2 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post blandy Posted March 8, 2022 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted March 8, 2022 1 hour ago, bickster said: Shouldn't be exactly hard to take out, especially with a drone or some wet leaves. 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 2 hours ago, choffer said: Already seeding the concept of their climb-down? There will be peaceful coexistence (hopefully) but Russia will be finished as a global super power. They have been for 30 years. Except that Putin has been in a 20 year denial on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villa87 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 51 minutes ago, sidcow said: It did cool tensions for a period following significant tension with Stalin, but the arms race continued culminating in the Berlin Crisis (thankfully a wall is better than a war) and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Neither side were truly committed to it - the USA continued to fly spy planes over soviet airspace which resulted in Gary Powers bring shot down and the USSR crushed the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. I do take your point that ultimately there was no nuclear Holocaust, but peaceful coexistence was in many respects a facade. Detente in the 70s was the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 8, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 8, 2022 22 minutes ago, GarethRDR said: There it is. We've finally found it. The weirdest flex in VillaTalk history. Bravo sir. In all fairness I've read stuff on here I've thought much weirder than that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 4 minutes ago, sidcow said: In all fairness I've read stuff on here I've thought much weirder than that Yeah. Some really weird people on here eat fish and chips with gravy. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 3 minutes ago, sidcow said: In all fairness I've read stuff on here I've thought much weirder than that Ah, the words of a man who's stumbled across Voinjama's old posts. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GarethRDR Posted March 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted March 8, 2022 Back on-topic; this whole debacle effectively means I can't wear my ¡Forward, Russia! band tee anymore. THANKS PUTIN. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 8, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 8, 2022 30 minutes ago, GarethRDR said: Ah, the words of a man who's stumbled across Voinjama's old posts. Was he the one with family issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted March 8, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 8, 2022 5 minutes ago, sidcow said: Was he the one with family issues? Different poster. Voiny was a scatalogical issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 If true this is hilarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted March 8, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 8, 2022 35 minutes ago, GarethRDR said: Back on-topic; this whole debacle effectively means I can't wear my ¡Forward, Russia! band tee anymore. THANKS PUTIN. Here's your replacement. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts