Ukraine traditionally was closely integrated in the Soviet economy, and then the Russian economy. The military and industrial complex of the two countries were highly integrated until just the last decade.
Russian leaders have historically placed their own ambitions above the rights of ordinary Russians, but it isn’t impossible that a post-Putin Russia could look different.
In 1919, the renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes wrote The Economic Consequences of the Peace, a book that would prove controversial indeed.
The regime has no more screws to turn, and only one pedal is left: conflating what Russia is doing in Ukraine with the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.
Nearly all of the post-Soviet countries have a lot of heartburn about looking to Putin as a benevolent security guarantor. Left to their own devices, none of these countries really wants to be back under the Kremlin's wing.
Evoking Czechoslovakia's similarly peaceful overthrow of communism 30 years previously, the uprising came to be known as Armenia's 'Velvet Revolution': a broad-based movement calling for clean government, democracy and economic reform.
After strong initial support, Sputnik V’s reception in Mexico has cooled amid growing public relations problems. For now, Russia’s ability to use vaccine diplomacy to boost its soft power and economic ties with Mexico has faltered.
If Russia wants to be influential on the continent, African political and economic leaders should demand more of Moscow, not simply settle for the symbolic diplomatic engagements or agreements at which the Russian leadership excels.
The Russian state is encouraging dehumanization and raising Generation Z: not Zoomers, but disciples of the letter Z, the emblem of Moscow’s war.
With Russia unable to act as key mediator, the countries are looking elsewhere for help.