Russia General Discussion

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Nobody actually cares about the February Revolution.

Well, I do. Historically, you can't understand October without February.

Well, no one one cares about history.
Seriously, are me and Silent Hunter the only people who knew this?

I knew it and of course the February Revolution is important historically, but no one actually celebrates the anniversary in Russia or anywhere else.

I think there was a movement in Russia to commemorate, but failed revolutions are usually not celebrated.
And cool name (Is your father's name John).

It did overthrow the Tsar. It just went highly wrong afterwards.

I agree, it went highly wrong, but they tried something with good intentions. Now it's us to learn from their mistakes, and from those of others, to envisage and maybe to create new good interesting things, unless thinking that current ideals are wonderful, won't carry any problems and are the final stage of the Humanity...

Well, no one one cares about history.

I unluckily have to agree.

Oh yes, peoples sometimes care, the time to answer a question in a TV or a Radio game...

Concerning the current Russia and its past, it seems its way is to dream about the power of the Old imperialist Russia and about the one of the Stalinist USSR. They take all what is powerful in these periods, they say these periods was wonderful because they got power and they dream to recreate such a new period for Russia with these old ones as references. It would also explains Putin's popularity which seems to be real and well spread in Russia.

P.S.: Thanks for this thread Silent Hunter. I wanted to open one on Russia but I wasn't sure to can update it each time it needed. 

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

I also agree for a Russia where oligarch and Church are very important, but then, what it will become?

Hmm, I would say, after they have lost, with others, a war against West, a war which could begin in the Persian Gulf if you know what I mean, I see the Russian Federation exploding to become a sort of European Union composed of most of its ancient home-states and maybe also of some regions from other countries like Ukraine or Belarus...

I go to far?

Maybe, or maybe not...

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Let Putin continue his work.  In my opinion it's much more in the interests of the US and the Western World for Russia to remain strong rather than implode and be exploited by China.  If we play our cards right maybe we can even turn Russia into an ally.

You had them already as an ally, but you blew it by encouraging (that's how it looked to the Russians) the economic collapse and by treating them as vanquished enemies.

I agree with both quotes

To defend my scenario:

As long as we have Bush administration at power, I think everything can be possible. I think they can play as bad as they can turn Russia and China and others against West just by striking on Iran

Let Putin continue his work.  In my opinion it's much more in the interests of the US and the Western World for Russia to remain strong rather than implode and be exploited by China.  If we play our cards right maybe we can even turn Russia into an ally.

You had them already as an ally, but you blew it by encouraging (that's how it looked to the Russians) the economic collapse and by treating them as vanquished enemies.

Letting former S.S.R.'s become NATO members didn't hurt either.

I precisely think that the old fight NATO vs. USSR is still in minds of some of the russian administration and if they think they can hurt US if this one seems to be weaker by opening a new hard military front, I think there are chances that they would, especially if they find strong opportunist allies.

To me, the question would be do these countries (Russia, China) would limit them to economic power or would they also want to gain power by force? I personally can't say, I just see chances that to me shouldn't be ignored for the second proposition.

Could the west have a war with Russia that doesn't go nuclear?

To me, here is a very good question. In this sense, pessimist for pessimist, concerning as much the possibility for Europe to be strong by herself as the one for a big conflict to arise, I wasn't really opposite to the shield that US wanted to build in Poland and Czech republic. Last thing I heard about it, is that the project was still on air but suspended.

I also heard, in a youtube clip (such a source!), that there was a doctrine in Pentagone which theorized what could be modern nuclear war, with small nukes (small but 6xHiroshima), and that this one would be used if US see that risks of escalating are too important in a conflict. I don't know much about it, and didn't look further, if someone has informations...

To answer your question. I don't know, but I think that's a really good question.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Could the west have a war with Russia that doesn't go nuclear?

I don't see it.  There are probably plenty of older politicians in Russia who would be more than happy to try and nuke every Western country into the ground, and vice versa.

Some, maybe, but not that many. The Soviet politicians of the 1980s were rational by and large.

The powerful ones were, but most of the sane people are now too old, and have retired.  We're left with the people who were unimportant 20 years ago; and we don't know what they would have done.

I agree

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

What I'm surprised is that there are so many religious figures on the list.

You seem to have knowledges on Russia, are you really surprised about it?