re: #618 Fairly Sure I’m Still Obdicut

Okay, I don’t think empires are psychological, so that would be the difference here. I don’t even know what that means.

I’m sorry, why would they ‘always’ remain anything? I’m not following you at all. Russia could be a first-rate military power, and I’m really confused as to why you think they couldn’t be. Can you explain?

I guess what I mean by empires being psychological is that there’s a certain mindset that exists in imperial countries. A worldview, and it’s generally shared by its leaders and its people. Take away that worldview, and they’ll have to find something else.

Russia could be a first-rate military power. But lack of money is what holds them back, and historically, it has. Look at their disastrous experience in WWI. For a long time, since the Russo-Japanese War, and maybe even before then, Russia looked good on paper, but in reality, its military wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. They rely heavily on quantity over quality. Lately, and to their credit, they’ve been improving. I really don’t know what their training is like for their personnel, so I can’t speak to that, but the quality of their hardware is quite good. Perhaps not entirely up to US standards, but certainly more than adequate.

The best case scenario I’d like to see, and it’ll probably never happen, is one where Russia calls it a day on its dreams of empire and joins the EU. But I don’t see that happening. Until Russia becomes a democratic nation-state that respects international law and doesn’t invade its neighbors on flimsy, cooked-up pretexts, they just need to be reminded again, and again, and again that the age of empires is over. And if that means a kick in the nuts to the Russians every now and then to drive that point home, so be it.