Changes

And today we have this Putin equals Russia equation, which is false, but very widespread. And so if they gave up the aspiration to be a providential power, a power under God, if they gave up the need to have a special mission in the world, to be in the first ranks of the great powers, then they wouldn't feel this geopolitical urgency to try to catch up somehow or close that gap or manage that gap between capabilities and aspirations. And then they wouldn't have to force modernize with coercion, they wouldn't have to suppress consumption and lower living standards to overinvest in the state and in the secret police. And they wouldn't have these moments of quest for a strong state that devolves into personalist rule potentially. So it's a choice. It's a choice that elites in Russia make again and again and again. It's not cultural DNA, although it does come from a self-identity, self-conception about, you know, Russia's special place in the world. And so I call this the geopolitical conundrum, and I think it can be broken.<ref>[https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/transcript-stephen-kotkin-back-ussr-or-back-tsarist-empire Transcript: Stephen Kotkin: Back to the USSR or Back to the Tsarist Empire?], Stephen Kotkin, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies; Havard University</ref>}}

And today we have this Putin equals Russia equation, which is false, but very widespread. And so if they gave up the aspiration to be a providential power, a power under God, if they gave up the need to have a special mission in the world, to be in the first ranks of the great powers, then they wouldn't feel this geopolitical urgency to try to catch up somehow or close that gap or manage that gap between capabilities and aspirations. And then they wouldn't have to force modernize with coercion, they wouldn't have to suppress consumption and lower living standards to overinvest in the state and in the secret police. And they wouldn't have these moments of quest for a strong state that devolves into personalist rule potentially. So it's a choice. It's a choice that elites in Russia make again and again and again. It's not cultural DNA, although it does come from a self-identity, self-conception about, you know, Russia's special place in the world. And so I call this the geopolitical conundrum, and I think it can be broken.<ref>[https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/transcript-stephen-kotkin-back-ussr-or-back-tsarist-empire Transcript: Stephen Kotkin: Back to the USSR or Back to the Tsarist Empire?], Stephen Kotkin, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies; Havard University</ref>}}

=== Vladimir Putin's foolish decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ===

== Vladimir Putin's foolish decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ==

*[[Essay: Vladimir Putin's foolish decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022|Vladimir Putin's foolish decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022]]

*[[Essay: Vladimir Putin's foolish decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022|Vladimir Putin's foolish decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022]]

*[[Essay: Russia is dying out. The war in Ukraine is making Russia's demographic crisis even worse|Russia is dying out. The war in Ukraine is making Russia's demographic crisis even worse]]

*[[Essay: Russia is dying out. The war in Ukraine is making Russia's demographic crisis even worse|Russia is dying out. The war in Ukraine is making Russia's demographic crisis even worse]]

=== Russian imperialism ===

== Russian imperialism ==

*[[Russian imperialism]]

*[[Russian imperialism]]

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_imperialism Russian imperialism]

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_imperialism Russian imperialism]

=== John Joseph Mearsheimer and U.S. relations with Russia ===

== John Joseph Mearsheimer and U.S. relations with Russia ==

[[File:John Mearsheimer.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|John Mearsheimer]]

[[File:John Mearsheimer.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|John Mearsheimer]]

[[John Mearsheimer]], is an American [[Political science|political scientist]] and [[international relations]] scholar, who belongs to the [[realist school of international relations]] and teaches at the [[University of Chicago]].

[[John Mearsheimer]], is an American [[Political science|political scientist]] and [[international relations]] scholar, who belongs to the [[realist school of international relations]] and teaches at the [[University of Chicago]].

In 2014, Mearsheimer said: "Russia is a declining power, and it will only get weaker with time."<ref>[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2014-08-18/why-ukraine-crisis-west-s-fault Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault], Foreign Affairs, Published August 18, 2014</ref>

In 2014, Mearsheimer said: "Russia is a declining power, and it will only get weaker with time."<ref>[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2014-08-18/why-ukraine-crisis-west-s-fault Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault], Foreign Affairs, Published August 18, 2014</ref>

=== Russian military weaknesses. Russia getting pummeled in wars in Russian history that hyper Russophiles will not tell you about ===

== Russian military weaknesses. Russia getting pummeled in wars in Russian history that hyper Russophiles will not tell you about ==

*[[Essay: Russian military weaknesses|Russian military weaknesses]]

*[[Essay: Russian military weaknesses|Russian military weaknesses]]

*[[Essay: Russia getting pummeled in wars in Russian history that hyper Russophiles will not tell you about|Russia getting pummeled in wars in Russian history that hyper Russophiles will not tell you about]]

*[[Essay: Russia getting pummeled in wars in Russian history that hyper Russophiles will not tell you about|Russia getting pummeled in wars in Russian history that hyper Russophiles will not tell you about]]

=== Russians overestimate their role in world history ===

== Russians overestimate their role in world history ==

See also: [[Essay: We Made History: Citizens of 35 Countries Overestimate Their Role in World History|We Made History: Citizens of 35 Countries Overestimate Their Role in World History]]

See also: [[Essay: We Made History: Citizens of 35 Countries Overestimate Their Role in World History|We Made History: Citizens of 35 Countries Overestimate Their Role in World History]]