<A bunch of self-serving nations safe behind dying Ukrainians ganging up on Team Russia cornered is likely a bad idea,>
How is Russia cornered? You have obviously seen the map of Russia. They already own most of Europe. They have twice the land mass as the second biggest nation in land mass.
So if they take over Ukraine, will they have less bordering nations? They will have more borders with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia Moldova, Romania. So by that logic, they will be threatened even more?
Is Russia cornered more after showing that their ground game in the war is only so so? Or when they had not showed their weakness? They always had nuclear weapons and missiles. In some ways they have cornered themselves.
Why does Russia keep playing 18th century games of land mass defense and offense? Why not win hearts and minds? Encourage immigration. Fill up the empty land mass. Attract the hard working and enterprising people from everywhere. It worked for the United States, otherwise it was another huge landmass without enough people.
Migration in Russia
rferl.org
In 2019, Ukrainians accounted for more than 60 percent of people getting Russian citizenship. In April and July of that year, Putin signed decrees making it easier for people in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions -- parts of which are controlled by Russia-backed separatists – to apply for Russian citizenship. In April 2020, Putin signed a law allowing dual Russian citizenship for foreigners in hopes of attracting up to 10 million migrants, mostly from countries with sizable Russian-speaking populations.
Another major factor in Russia's demographic calculations is migration, both into the country and out of it. In 2018, more than 90,000 Russians were granted citizenship or a residency permit in an EU country (including the United Kingdom). Also, the share of people aged 18-24 who want to leave Russia increased from 29 percent in 2009 to 53 percent in 2019.
-Arun |
