The experience of dealing with attacks on Russia’s sovereignty and devastating invasions of its territory make it exceptionally aware of the need to defend itself in depth.
Russia has vast borders and is therefore vulnerable to attack on many fronts. This has made the leadership of Russia extremely sensitive to all that is required to ensure the safety of its citizens.
The progress of NATO toward Russia in recent years along with a cumulative sanctions regime by the western powers has stimulated a natural response within Russia to protect itself.
That western powers are blind to the historical precedents it is following in fomenting attacks against Russia is quite obvious and blind also to the inevitable reaction from the Russian state and people to those attacks.
The level of ignorance combined with arrogance being displayed by the West is quite staggering when you consider all of the above. The counterproductive nature of its activities over the past two decades, continuing as they do to this very day, are quite breathtakingly wrongheaded and for an array of reasons.
Under threat, the leadership of Russia has reluctantly taken certain measures to defend the nation and its people from harm.
In no particular order:
The ever-strengthening bond between Russia and China.
The greater the level of attack mounted against Russia by the West the stronger has been the motivation of the Russian leadership to find allies with which to agree on a common cause. The greatest of these is of course China. As the West has sought to target both Russia and China (again in its ignorance) the greater has been the incentive of the two great powers to pool their resources and cooperation. This has reached the point where there is little that separates the two nations in their approach to the West. Both are now no longer mincing their words in response to western aggression in any kind of hope of their attackers seeing sense. It has reached the point also where sharing military expertise and military technologies has become ever more commonplace.
The diversification of Russia’s economy.
In response to EU sanctions which have had at least an equal effect on businesses in the EU, Russia has sought new economic and trading partners within Eurasia. Eurasian partners have been found which have no wish or incentive to be involved in the foreign policy interference of the West in matters of commerce. Russia has been forced by the sanctions to focus more intently on developing a greater array of income-generating industries to enable it to be less and less dependent on that gained from its sale of oil and gas.
Russia’s ability to export to the West.
Even while sanctions have been increasingly applied by western elites on Russia, Russia has concurrently increased the export of its massive oil and gas resources to western nations, primarily those within Europe. While achieving this export of oil and gas to Eurasia and in particular to China has risen exponentially also. New fields in the Russian Arctic will further strengthen Russia’s position as an oil and gas exporter. Another strong income source is wheat. Russia is now the number one exporter of wheat worldwide. All of these factors point to a strengthening Russian economy in future years.
The transfer from the dollar to local currencies.
Russia has been strengthening its economic position in recent decades by making itself less and less vulnerable to the use of economic and financial weapons by the West. Russia along with China hold some of the greatest reserves of gold on the planet. Along with this Russia has been constantly reducing its exposure to external debt. In tandem with these measures Russia, China and others are reducing the use of the dollar in their trades and increasing the use of local currencies to reduce their exposure to U.S. financial manipulation.
Creating a political and social system safer from western subversion.
In recent times the Russian constitution has been amended to ensure the elimination of those means by which foreign influence and foreign money can be used to subvert the political system by outsiders and to ensure it is populated purely by a dedicated Russian cadre of political figures. In addition, foreign entities which seek to gain access to power structures within Russia must now be registered and are strictly monitored. Others that have been found inimical to Russian cultures, traditions and way of life have been banned outright.
The creation of a 21st-century military defence system.
Russia can be said with good reason to have one of the most advanced and professional military defence systems globally if not in many respects the most impressive, armed now with hypersonic weapons systems increasingly coming into service. The Russian military has been transformed in terms of its professionalism and regular training to maintain the peak reached since the late twentieth century. The military forces of the Russian Federation are now second to none in almost every respect. For this reason along with all of those mentioned above, it will be a foolish power indeed that risks some future conflict with Russia.
The leadership within Russia are fully aware of the political, economic and military challenges they face. The clear aggression of certain western nations, primarily the United States and United Kingdom along with others within their orbit has consistently assisted by default in creating the strong Russia that now exists. Despite Russia’s leadership, from the beginning of the 21st century onward, giving every chance for the West to accept the hand of friendship from Russia, offering cooperation on all global threats and demonstrating a constant desire for dialogue the West has spurned all such invitations.
Slowly and extremely reluctantly the open hand of Russia has closed. This process took place with an almost unbelievable level of patience and endurance of verbal and economic attacks. Now, within only this past year or less that hand now much more resembles a fist. Even so, there still remains a willingness, even at this last hour when western belligerence has reached new heights to tentatively open it once again, albeit possibly briefly in the hope that those who have proven themselves consistently to be untrustworthy may at the very last change their ways.
Russia will remain on guard. Russia has suffered more than most other nations combined in the living memory of many. She will not allow harm to come to her citizens ever again if she can help it. No aggressor will be permitted to subvert Russia’s historical legacy, religious beliefs or traditional values. Those will be defended with ever-renewed patriotism and those who seek to alloy these attributes guarded with pride or are looking for ways to degrade or replace them will never be allowed to do so. The strength within the diverse nature of the Russian people exemplified by their unity within that diversity will always beat back and destroy any and all attackers with the incredible tenacity and selflessness shown so clearly in past times.
In concert all the factors above form the impenetrable barrier to attack that rests within the Russian soul and which makes Russia now as ever an anvil that will wear out all hammers applied against it.
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