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Nicolai Petro's avatar

A very insightful analysis that goes well paired with Vladislav Surkov's 2018 essay "The Loneliness of the Half-Breed" (https://eng.globalaffairs.ru/articles/the-loneliness-of-the-half-breed/).

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Daniël Lataster's avatar

Doesn't this approach underestimate the structural constraints within which regimes, even the strongest, have to operate? North Korea can only maintain her sovereignty because of its form of "state socialism", largely independent of international capitalism. Russia is still capitalistic, although with strong state centered structures. And isn't there the necessity of closer relations with a China that will limit its sovereignty? And Russia can still profit from its place in OPEC, and the high prices for oil that this implies. The strong position of the emerging economies like the oil producing countries and the growing economic importance of China, India and Indonesia put a limit on the possibilities of the West isolating Russia.

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