Russian Ruble collapsing.

[The Chosen One]

Anyone following this? Epic stuff.

Looks like the economic sanctions + Saudi friendship is paying off for US.

Obama might have outplayed Putin on this hand.

[TURBO]

No more cheap games from Steam by buying from Russia.

[goldfly]

yeah

**** the bs sanctions that we spit to start


with the friendship of the crazy ass radicals it seems we were able to crash the russian economy

[50PoundHead]

I'm all for anything that would dismiss Putin to the dustbin of history, but I don't know if this is going to do it. I fully expect a paranoiac response where he spellbinds Mother Russia into stepping up the invasion of Ukraine, which would probably force the West into a more aggressive response to that nonsense.

As for the global game, Putin pushed the envelope too far and got bit. Russian government is pretty much a kleptocracy and the Russian people were suffering (and would continue to suffer) sanctions or not. I just think this shows that the big furniture of diplomacy doesn't always have to involve military action.

If Putin falls, I would hope that the United States and the rest of the Western Alliance would proceed more cautiously and honestly in the aftermath than they did when Gorbachev left.

[Hawk]

Perfect timing, I'm visiting Moscow for two weeks in March.

By the way, Gorbachev recently suggested that the United States "urgently needs its own perestroika." (link)

[Julio3000]

I'm all for anything that would dismiss Putin to the dustbin of history, but I don't know if this is going to do it. I fully expect a paranoiac response where he spellbinds Mother Russia into stepping up the invasion of Ukraine, which would probably force the West into a more aggressive response to that nonsense.

As for the global game, Putin pushed the envelope too far and got bit. Russian government is pretty much a kleptocracy and the Russian people were suffering (and would continue to suffer) sanctions or not. I just think this shows that the big furniture of diplomacy doesn't always have to involve military action.

If Putin falls, I would hope that the United States and the rest of the Western Alliance would proceed more cautiously and honestly in the aftermath than they did when Gorbachev left.

Yeah, we screwed that up a treat.

[sturg33]

Sanctions are almost always a precursor to war

[AerchAngel]

Sanctions are almost always a precursor to war

With whom?

Ukraine?

Putin is not Kasparov. A lot of Bishops, Knights and Rooks weren't placed correctly (Chechnya, Iran, Ukraine beyond more defensive than offensive). He need some countries to do some things to keep the West from seeing what he was calculating but Israel failed him, the insurgents in Chechnya didn't help, the other small countries under the former regime put down a defense and dared him to invade. China just shrugged.

Yeah, he messed up and he will not attempt MAD just for his sake, he would get assassinated in a second.

[sturg33]

With whom?

Ukraine?

No

[AerchAngel]

No

Anyone in the west is MAD because they are not equipped to take on the west. They wouldn't last a month with all their equipment destroyed. Heck, Japan alone would shoot down every freaking plane they have in the air.