(Jun 19, 2022 01:41 PM)confused2 Wrote: [ -> ]Think Putin.
I don't know enough to answer the question myself.
Defeat from within would result in wars that fizzle out. America v. Vietnam might be a good example but I suspect Putin is better at using nationalism than a more western democracy.
in a time before the internet i would agree with you that putin would be able to control the narrative
but he cant inspite of his best efforts to block it all from ordinary russians.
ordinary russians know putin is losing because he is blocking things that previously were not blocked.
if putin was not losing he would not be blocking things
same goes for china
what putin needs is the will of the russian male youth to join his army
and i dont think he had that to begin with.
the storys coming out of captured russian soldiers is they were lied to en mass about getting money and not having to serve in a war
and their commanders are hopeless
the old guard generals have been killed on the battlefield and 20 year olds are commanding units like tribal grave robbers.
the more pertinent question is
"how long can putin keep the wheels on the buss"
all its wheels are wobbling and they have replaced a few wheels with spares that dont fit and dont work properly.
the faster it goes the bigger the crash
so everything has slowed down
bomb everything flat, scorch the earth, then occupy the no-mans-land with new recruits
that is their strategy
it only works when they can out range the Ukrainian guns
as soon as Ukraine gets long range artillery to its defensive-offensive positions
they will crush russias artillery and russia will be left only with its air force.
and an air force cant occupy territory and the air force will get sloppy and make mistakes
and stingers will be sitting around waiting for those mistakes that will happen
soo... what will putin do when he realises the people are against him
if he wants the country to succeed he will withdraw
if he has completely lost his mind he will keep on attacking
the race is on for him to complete his invasion before he loses the last of the russian peoples will to fight a useless war that is not giving them anything except dead young men, destroying their future and sanctions turning their society into the dark ages.
as the russian youth see their high tech future turned into a communist cold war low tech tribal like reality, they will eventually revolt or leave the country
and putin will be busing old people from retirement homes to the front lines to be cannon fodder to keep up the stale mate.