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Written by Julian Macfarlane, Tokyo-based military and geopolitical analyst.
Is Vladimir Putin a genius?
What other statesman can claim his accomplishments? No other leader in a hundred years has been so successful— turning around a country mired in war, chaos and corruption in just a few years and building on that progress.
From a failed state, Russia has progressed to being strong enough to challenge the American Empire and Europe in a proxy war in the Ukraine — and a global economic and diplomatic war — and win in both cases. With China, Russia is creating a new, fairer, more just multipolar international order.
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Yes, those figures are just until 2013.
Economic War
Putin was making steady progress. But then everything changed.
In 2014, the Empire, under Tsar Barak Obama, imposed sanctions and continued to mount economic warfare year by year.
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But the economic attack achieved the opposite of what it was supposed to, exacerbating Western economic decline while accelerating Russian infrastructural and industrial growth.
If you look at figures posted all over the Internet, you will see that the West sees the Russian economy through the lens of neoliberal economics.
The fact is that American sanctions have reduced Russian imports such that Russia has been forced to create an autarkic economy, that is largely self-sufficient and becoming more so every year. From being a net importer of foodstuffs, Russia went to being a net exporter.
Now, although imports from the West have fallen, Russia gets all it needs in key sectors from other suppliers—while its exports have risen. New industries are growing up to replace the goods once supplied by Western companies. Below, 2022.
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Is Russia suffering?
Moscow was ranked third in the UN–HABITAT City Prosperity Index. UN experts analyzed the following developments in 29 major cities of the world: infrastructure, equity and social inclusion, quality of life, productivity, environmental sustainability and urban governance and legislation.
Moscow also ranked first in the Quality of Life Dimension Ranking, which accounts for a total of 14 indicators, such as health, education, recreation, safety and others.
Sorry, New York doesn’t even rank.
While Russia industrializes, the US dedollarizes— although the brown stuff has yet to hit the fan and his effects are not yet apparent. A major recession in the US economy will however, get…ummm… messy!
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Once dollar share drops to 40%, the US economy, which is hugely financialized, with a compromised industrial infrastructure and cosmic debt, may very well collapse.
QOL? Forget that!
Financial collapse could lead to internal conflict — which we already see, with the country more and more divided.
That’s bad for the US, of course and also dangerous for the world, given the delusional state of American culture and a leader who constantly confuses his car keys and the nuclear keys.
Of course, as long as the US doesn’t start firing off nuclear missiles—which is less likely than wars of secession or an invasion of Canada or Mexico —or something equally crazy—the world as a whole will be better off.
It will be mostly thanks to one man — Vladimir Putin, who was willing to go the distance with the global bully.
In a street fight, it isn’t always the bigger guy who wins. Nor even trained boxers or MMA fighters. That’s because in street fights there are no rules. What matters is strategy.
The Tao of Vladimir Putin
One of my earliest articles on Substack was the Tao of Vladimir Putin, which was hugely popular and republished on Medium.com, Global Research, Dissident Voice and other places.
Putin himself ….
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