Global Events & Politics Überthread

Garmel said:
True, but a cyber attack by him or another bad actor on our power grid is a definite possibility. I don't even want to think about the damage this would cause.
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DOn't worry - The Biden regime stopped looking into CCP spies becuase they didn't want to offend people.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/...china-focused-anti-espionage-program-00011065

Wokeness will destroy the West. WE need to understand that and suck the poison out of the wound before its too late.
 
thethe said:
This is rich coming from you based on your stances on the vaccine and masks.

Either way - If you think that SANCTIONS are going to deter Putin now that he has over a billion people in China to sell things to as well as a starving western world for energy then I'll just quietly snicker and wait for you to be wrong again.
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It depends on the sanctions. Tepid sanctions will likely damage the Russian economy but Putin will ride them out like he did in 2014. Severe sanctions (ones that cause pain both for the west and for Russia) would devastate the Russian economy.

You say Russia could just start selling to China. It's not as easy as that. Currently the infrastructure for moving Russian oil and gas is heavily directed towards Europe. If the west cut off the purchase of Russian oil and gas, it would take a huge effort to shift selling it to other countries in the quantities it sells to Europe.

Then there's the fact that China can't offer everything the west can. Western finance is hugely important. Then there are technologies that can only be supplied by the west. If those were cut off from Russia they'd struggle to keep up with the rest of the world. Also, think of the concentration of the worlds largest corporations in the west. 8 of the 10 largest companies in the world are located in western countries (including Japan in this). If the west forbid these companies from doing business in Russia it would cripple the Russian economy.

Russia is economically tied to the west. Those ties can't be quickly severed without massive damage to the Russian economy.

And if there's one area that's soft for Putin, it's money. Hitting him and his oligarchs in the wallet is where it will hurt them the most.
 
Striker - We have given (in addition to stolen) so much of our tech to the CCP.

We will see how much resolve the West has when gas reaches 8 dollars a gallon and it costs 1500 bucks to fill up your oil tanks.
 
Garmel said:
True, but a cyber attack by him or another bad actor on our power grid is a definite possibility. I don't even want to think about the damage this would cause.
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I think you'd have to consider an attack on the power grid to be an act of war. That would result in a shooting war with the US.

Putin is empire building. He's not ready to go toe to toe with NATO.
 
thethe said:
Striker - We have given (in addition to stolen) so much of our tech to the CCP.

We will see how much resolve the West has when gas reaches 8 dollars a gallon and it costs 1500 bucks to fill up your oil tanks.
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I'm not talking about trade secrets when it comes technology. It's far more mundane than that. It's more keeping them from having access to all the technological components and software they need to operate in the modern world. It's not that these are secret things beyond the capability of Russian scientists. It's more that western companies control the supply of these items and so could cut Russia off.
 
I don't know what to think about what their next move is - I think Putin is satisfied just taking the Ukraine back and expelling Western influences.

The CCP though has different motivations. Attacking Taiwan might as well be an attack on the US. Our economy will be devastated if that happens.
 
striker42 said:
I'm not talking about trade secrets when it comes technology. It's far more mundane than that. It's more keeping them from having access to all the technological components and software they need to operate in the modern world. It's not that these are secret things beyond the capability of Russian scientists. It's more that western companies control the supply of these items and so could cut Russia off.
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There is no such thing as a "Western Company" in China.
 
thethe said:
What should we do?

End all trade with China.
Massive restart of Americas energy independence.
Stop the woke nonsense and realize that MEN should be in the military.

And of course - Impeach the fake president/VP and let the next speaker of the house take control. We all know who I want that to be.
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Ah yes, Putin very clearly took one look at our military, realized women were in it and decided he could take us on. Very good point.
 
striker42 said:
I think you'd have to consider an attack on the power grid to be an act of war. That would result in a shooting war with the US.

Putin is empire building. He's not ready to go toe to toe with NATO.
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And if we can't determine who did it? You really think this weak president would do anything militarily if we knew for sure it was Russia?
 
thethe said:
There is no such thing as a "Western Company" in China.
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You have a lot of faith in China's ability to operate without western money flowing in. You also way overrate how committed to Russia China really is. China is an ally of Russia and will do business with them when others wont but they're not going to stick their neck out for Russia.

Just because certain technological parts or devices are manufactured in China doesn't mean that China will just turn around and sell them to Russia. These factories are in bed with western companies. They're not going to kick out the company that buys 99% of what they produce just so they can sell some to Russia. And if the company that buys all of the production from these factories doesn't sell to Russia, China doesn't care.

So much of what Russia needs to operate flows through the west. Could Russia change that? Sure, but it would take decades to get to that point.
 
striker42 said:
You have a lot of faith in China's ability to operate without western money flowing in. You also way overrate how committed to Russia China really is. China is an ally of Russia and will do business with them when others wont but they're not going to stick their neck out for Russia.

Just because certain technological parts or devices are manufactured in China doesn't mean that China will just turn around and sell them to Russia. These factories are in bed with western companies. They're not going to kick out the company that buys 99% of what they produce just so they can sell some to Russia. And if the company that buys all of the production from these factories doesn't sell to Russia, China doesn't care.

So much of what Russia needs to operate flows through the west. Could Russia change that? Sure, but it would take decades to get to that point.
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I think you underestimate what the CCP's end game is.
 
CERNOVICH:

"Anti-Putin ���� is:

- nuclear power,

- keystone pipeline,

- military focused on wars, not pronouns,

- moral authority, we don’t debank protesters.

If you voted Biden, you support Putin.

You’re actual Russian agents.

Or what the Marxists called “useful idiots.”
 
BTW - I hope you are right Striker and that sanctions do the trick.

I think the CCP smells blood in the water and thinks this will be the best time to act over the next 10 years. They see whats coming politically in the US.
 
thethe said:
BTW - I hope you are right Striker and that sanctions do the trick.

I think the CCP smells blood in the water and thinks this will be the best time to act over the next 10 years. They see whats coming politically in the US.
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The bigger question is whether the west will have the stomach for sanctions that would work. Targeted, narrow sanctions will hurt Russia but not enough. Sanctions will need to be draconian for them to work.
 
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