The US Makes Inroads Into Russia’s Periphery

[Peter1469]

So this is what the US can do while Russia is distracted in Ukraine. The US saw this happen to it for the 2 forever wars trying to bring Jeffersonian Democracy to camel jockeys.

The US Makes Inroads Into Russia’s Periphery

Countries at war tend to use all the resources they can realistically spare to achieve their desired outcome. The obvious drawback is that the war effort can de-prioritize other important affairs, or can leave the state vulnerable to elements at home and abroad that would like to challenge its power. Such is the case with Russia in Ukraine. The West in general, and the U.S. in particular, is probing Russian positions at other points in the country’s periphery, including the Caucasus and Central Asia, where Russian power is as much economic as it is martial.

Opportunism


Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is no small matter. Fuel and supplies must be procured and sent, soldiers must be rotated, and injuries and damaged equipment both require repair. It demands vast sums of money that for the Kremlin are increasingly in short supply. Put simply, a lot of Russia’s time, attention and materials are concentrated to its west.


This leaves other areas in Russia’s periphery less attended to. These include the Central Asian countries that, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, prioritized building their economies and practicing neutrality so that international conflict wouldn’t hurt their unstable economies. These also include the South Caucasus, a transit hub between Asia and Europe and a supplier of resources to Western countries. All of these areas are critical to Russia’s security, so given Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the question is for how long, and to what extent, Russia can ignore them.

In general, the U.S. has had no direct interest in either Central Asia or the South Caucasus. That’s beginning to change somewhat as Europe looks for alternative routes for energy deliveries, but in reality the West cares about these regions mostly because Russia cares so much about them; they insulate Russia from outsiders and depend on Russia economically. This gives Moscow a ton of influence there, but the flip side is that countries like the U.S. can use Russia’s strategic needs against it. This is precisely why Washington is maintaining its positions in Georgia, looking for new opportunities to pry Armenia away from Russia’s sphere of influence, strengthening cooperation with Azerbaijan, and providing financing in Central Asia that Russia cannot.


Diplomatic activity over the past month attests to Washington’s opportunism. The senior adviser of the U.S. State Department for negotiations in the Caucasus was in Baku from April 24 to April 29 to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, while the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs met with Azerbaijani authorities on April 27-28.

Read the rest at the link.

[Common]

Russia is doing to itself what it did to Nazi Germany...they kept backing up making the Nazi front impossible to re supply.

Some of the same things are happening to Russia now...I will say this again, Russia win or lose has already lost this war. Other countries are looking at the shambles the russian military is and how untrained, undisciplined and most importantly they lack the will to win. The world sees Russian strength as a facade, they see equiptment thats not fit for war.

Most importantly the world is mostly against this russian aggression....RUSSIA has lost this war

[Peter1469]

Russia is doing to itself what it did to Nazi Germany...they kept backing up making the Nazi front impossible to re supply.

Some of the same things are happening to Russia now...I will say this again, Russia win or lose has already lost this war. Other countries are looking at the shambles the russian military is and how untrained, undisciplined and most importantly they lack the will to win. The world sees Russian strength as a facade, they see equiptment thats not fit for war.

Most importantly the world is mostly against this russian aggression....RUSSIA has lost this war

Prior to this war even NATO planners assumed the Russian military was much better than it turns out they are.

[MisterVeritis]

Russia is doing to itself what it did to Nazi Germany...they kept backing up making the Nazi front impossible to re supply.

Some of the same things are happening to Russia now...I will say this again, Russia win or lose has already lost this war. Other countries are looking at the shambles the russian military is and how untrained, undisciplined and most importantly they lack the will to win. The world sees Russian strength as a facade, they see equiptment thats not fit for war.

Most importantly the world is mostly against this russian aggression....RUSSIA has lost this war

Nonsense.