Russia is the largest country in the world, yet it's incredibly afraid of its neighbors.

That's a bit like how the US is the most armed country in the world, but its people are also the most afraid in the world.

Anyway... Russia. Russia isn't actually an extremely large country. After all, there's Russia and there's the federation. This federation consists of many peoples who are oppressed by the Russians. They were once separate peoples, but their land was overrun by the Russians, who still call the shots there.

Putin is now busy exterminating these peoples, because it's the men from these oppressed groups who are fighting the war in Ukraine. Proportionately, there are few ethnic Russians in Ukraine.

Russia has always been afraid of its neighbors. Reportedly, because the country has been attacked twice all the way to Moscow, but if that's the reason, why don't we have that problem with Spain, France, and Germany? We've been attacked by those countries far more than twice, and both times Russia was attacked, the Netherlands was completely conquered...

The fact is: Russia is a colonial state, and it always wants to expand its empire. Its wealth must come from newly conquered territories. That's how it has worked there for centuries. Europe did the same... until about a century ago.

Russia never stopped. It only suffered a huge setback in 1991, and Putin is now trying to make up for that.

It was the USSR that attacked Finland and Poland in 1939. At that time, the USSR was dividing Europe in cooperation with Nazi Germany. Nothing more, nothing less.

The intention in 2022 was to bring Ukraine to its knees in one big blow, just as should have happened with Finland in 1939 and Afghanistan in 1980.

Russia has therefore gained considerable experience with the limits to its growth.

The collapse of the USSR was also such a limit to growth.

The war in Ukraine now also seems to demonstrate that the Russian bear's eagerness was greater than its capacity to achieve its stated goals.

Putin is now looking for a way out of the war. Preferably by still winning it... If that doesn't work, then... Well, what then? That's a scenario Putin isn't ready for yet. His idea is still that Russia is invincible, just as the leaders of the USSR thought in 1939 and 1980...

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Hello Joseph!

Tuesday May 27 2025 06:03, you wrote to All:

What you said about Russia is 100% true.

Many people think Putinism is just a temporary shadow over Russia. They don't realize it's actually Russia's normal state - deeply rooted in its culture and history.

Russia is like a cave stuck in the past. Its culture was borrowed from Europe, its history mostly made up, and its grand displays are all show and theater. It's a serious problem for the world. For seventy years, Russia was under the madness of communism, before that, it was under the Tatars, the Orthodox Church, and the tsars.

Russians know the Ukrainian war is a crime and a betrayal. Yet, they still take pleasure in it, because occupying, killing, and exploiting others is the only role Russia knows. Putin understands that, too. If Russia stopped its aggressive ways, it would become just another small, poor country that nobody notices. Its empire would fall apart, and Russia would lose its place on the world stage.


Alex

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