Even trade routes over land to possibly neutral countries like China, India and Pakistan are long and presumably arduous? So whilst it has nuclear weapons and can correctly claim to be a military superpower, economically its place at 88th in the list of GNP looks set to fall. Given the concentration of wealth in few pro-Kremlin individuals and the military the standard of living for the average Russian, especially outside the major urban areas is lower and likely to fall. Many Russians are seeking to leave already if reports are correct.
The West should use its “soft” superpower components to the maximum. These are the cultural and technological aspects. Firstly the cultural. There are few parts of the world not massively exposed to Western and mainly American culture via Hollywood and the medium of the English language. Love it or hate it, the BBC also has a strong following around the world. Denying access to western culture, and sporting events will impact heavily on the young. I am not sure this is important as WW2 was both horrendous for the Russians, but is also in living memory. recent surveys suggest Putin’s “special Military Action’ in Ukraine is popular with the public. Secondly the technological. Yes the Russians may have some of the most active and possibly best hackers – however that is to believe that the west is inactive in this field! Facebook, twitter etc.etc. are immensely important to youth. And I am fairly sure that blocks can be avoided – especially with help from the parent companies?
So the children of the Moscow school I met many years ago will now have children of their own and the discussions we had (or the students did) about music andfootball (and stupid teachers and stupid uniforms) will be forgotten and irrelevant in the Russian future where football matches are against North Korea and music is censored if showing any emotions deviating from Putin’s rules. Today it was announced that reporting on the war will get the reporter 15 years I oil if telling the truth (or as they say misinformation).