How Do We Stop Vladimir Putin & Russia? The West should stop empowering Putin to threaten his neighbors.
A lot of this is self-imposed. Germany has replaced clean nuclear energy with dirty Russian gas, making it vulnerable to Putin’s power aspirations, and, worse, paying for it by sending all that money to Moscow.
There is simply no need for this.
Russia is a dying country. Literally. Birth rate is sub 1.9. No one in their right mind wants to move there (e.g., Snowden).
As a result, some of the highest rates of suicide, depression, alcoholism, domestic abuse, etc. Furthermore, what kind of a culture sells its women and puts its children up for adoption?
It’s GDP is less than that of Texas. It doesn’t even rank in the top 50 countries on a per capita GDP basis. Yet it spends over 10% of GDP in its military. Russia is a poor country. They aren’t even the best makers of their national drink.
Kinetically, Russia is indefensible. Its major defense is winter, not its military.
Pity Ukraine. It is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Its per capita GDP is only 1/3 of that of Russia. Why Putin wants Ukraine is only explainable by his personal power dynamics. He may think annexing it makes Russia (him?) safer, but it will be an economic disaster for the Russian people.
In conclusion, the best thing the West can do for Ukraine and the Russian people is to isolate Putin. Not appease him. Decouple Europe’s energy from Russia to remove his source of funds.
Close the border.
In addition, stop trading with them.
Furthermore, kick the oligarchs (and Putin’s children) out of New York, London, Paris and Amsterdam.
Lastly, freeze his money in Zurich.
Moreover, it will take a generation.
But eventually the Russian people will want what the Ukrainian people want. However, to be part of a democratic capitalist system, the must throw out the autocrats.
