Despite Western Assertions, Russia Is Not on the Decline

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(Old) Arbat Street, Moscow; photo by Natylie Baldwin, May 2017

By Natylie Baldwin, The Globe Post, 7/30/21

We’ve all heard the statement that Russia is a declining power. It is repeated so often by western pundits that it has become a truism. 

The incoming leader of Britain’s MI6, Richard Moore, said so a few months ago. Even analysts who are considered more thoughtful, such as John Mearsheimer, have made a similar declaration. But is this statement really true? If not, why do we keep hearing it?

Basic Facts About Russia

To answer the first question, let’s look at some basic facts about Russia relevant to its position in the world. Russia is the largest country in the world geographically, straddles two continents, and possesses a nuclear arsenal as large and modern as that of the United States – if not more so. In terms of its non-nuclear military capacity, only the United States is considered stronger.

Regarding its economy, Russia’s GDP is eleventh in the world, behind Italy and Canada. However, Russian total purchasing power parity comes in at sixth in the world. 

Russia possesses a wealth of natural resources including minerals, metals, precious stones, and wood. The country has also been the world’s first or second largest exporter of wheat for several years. It contains an educated population and consistently places highly in computer technology competitions.

Recent History

The Russian Federation has only existed since 1991, so it makes the most sense to examine the last 30 years to determine whether or not the country is declining. This requires us to look at what Russia was like during the 1990s.

Read full article here.

6 thoughts on “Despite Western Assertions, Russia Is Not on the Decline”

    1. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Allen. I fixed the link. It should work now.

  2. This begs the question: is the US political class really this stupid? Or is it possible that they don’t want to see long-term stability in Russia?

    Amerikas 1% need an enemy and Russia has been the bad guys and now China has joined them. The Amerikan propaganda machine never stops so the merchants of death are funded to the teeth while the Amerikan citizens slip down trail of poverty. Sad the public in Amerika can’t see what happening to them in the split and divide world of Amerika. We are sliding into the 4th world while Russia and China move on past us.
    Thanks for the article on the truth

  3. The link two read more of “Despite Western Assertions . . .” appears to be broken. Hope it will be fixed as I want to read on.

  4. It’s not just Russia to whom they do this. I’m a US expat living in Argentina, and at least half of what’s written online about this country is false or an outright lie. The financiers hate the Peronists with a passion, and the Operation Condor II soft coup against Argentina in 2015 only lasted long enough to get Singer and his lackeys paid. Then Peronism surged back to power, and dared to not pay the IMF by squeezing the people as Wall Street wanted. So now propaganda rags like Bloomberg publish vitriolic articles about Argentina, written by people who have never set foot in Latin America and don’t know jack squat.

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