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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Russia is a huge country with literally more landmass than any other country in the world. It spans at least two continents, including both Europe and Asia. Its capital is Moscow, and its population exceeds 140 million [/quote]
And? Is there a point here besides obvious facts I learned in fourth grade?[/quote]

It is impossible to understand the country with an appreciation for what makes it unique[/quote]

You didn't say anything we didn't know. DCUM tends to be highly educated and traveled, and many of us are from Europe, Asia or other parts of the world, where governments educate their kids better than here.

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If we’re listing random facts…
Russia is very big, but with a lot of land that is not particularly usable. 
Much of Russia is very cold and/or remote.
Russia has a lot of natural resources but a relatively under developed manufacturing sector making it relatively dependent on foreign imports to maintain a modern western standard of living 
Russia has a large population to use for cannon fodder but also a low birth rate and high emigration, making the cannon fodder strategy not particularly viable as a long term strategy.  
Russia has never had a functioning democracy and its population doesn’t  really expect one; kleptocracy has  been the norm dating back at least 100 years and is largely expected so long as it’s kept within somewhat reasonable bounds
The national vibe is generally cynicism and self interest

I don’t think Russia is set for revolution.  It’s just not really in their character.  They are too cynical and pessimistic to make good revolutionaries.  I know they had a pretty famous revolution, but that was primarily due to WWI putting a lot of guns in the hands of a lot of really irritated peasants and workers. I guess it’s possible that people returning from Ukraine will be similarly irritated but I doubt it.

I don’t see any really obvious exit ramps here.  I think that if there is an exit ramp, it involves Putin declaring victory and everyone pretending that’s accurate with an effort to return to a sort of stagflation normalcy with elites continuing to rob the country and stash money abroad.  When Putin dies, there might be room for a moderate reformer aka Krushchev or Gorbachev.  But I don’t think we’ll see another move to cozy up to the west like we did for a brief period in the 90s.  Both sides feel burned by that effort.

I don’t think they have long term affinity with the Chinese either — Russians think they are way better than Chinese and Chinese think they are way better than Slavs so there’s no a long term special relationship there.  
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I agree.
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