Ukraine Has Exposed Russia as a Not-So-Great Power

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Putin used to try to intimidate other countries and even NATO with his military might. The Ukraine war and ended the myth that Russia is a first tied military power

Link to tweet

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/rethinking-russia-ukraine-international-political-power-military-strength/661452/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

The best place to start is the widespread notion going into the war that we were witnessing a clash between a great power controlled by an experienced, savvy—some even said brilliant—leader and a small state weakened by national division and led by a second-rate former comedian. This great power–small power dynamic was accepted practically universally among a group of scholars and analysts who have proclaimed themselves “realists.”,,,,,

This all sounded eminently reasonable, but then Russia invaded Ukraine and the great power–small power dichotomy was revealed to be the opposite of realism. The fundamental problem was that Russia was exposed at the start as not a “great” power at all. Having sent in almost all of its frontline military units, the Russian army has seized only 20 percent of Ukraine—a far cry from its initial efforts to take Kyiv and subjugate the entire country—and is suffering horrific losses in casualties and equipment. It’s already desperately trying to regenerate its forces by finding soldiers wherever it can, even allowing citizens as old as 49 to enlist, while throwing more and more older, second-rate equipment into the fight.

Russian strength has shown itself to be so overrated that it gives us an opportunity to rethink what makes a power “great.” Going into the war, Russia’s military capabilities—including a large nuclear stockpile and what was thought to be one of the biggest and most-advanced armed forces in the world—were pointed to as the reason for its strength. What this war might be showing us, however, is that a military is only as strong as the society, economy, and political structure that assembled it. In this case, Russia was nowhere near a great power, but in fact a deeply flawed, in many ways weakening, state......

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has not been a situation in which a great power assaulted a smaller neighbor. It’s an example of a large, deeply flawed power invading a smaller, but very committed one. The balance of power between the two does still matter—but what makes up that balance needs to be much better understood.

[Tomconroy]

1. We be loving Prof. OBrien!

[Pantagruel]

2. As I recall

Obama described Russia as a second rate military power?

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Many Already Suspected This

The Soviet military was overrated for 50 years. That phenomenon carried over to Russia.
If they didn't have nukes (assuming they're actually viable), their military power would be routinely ignored.
A puny, inefficient military backed by a puny & inefficient economy run by mobsters.
Like i said, many already figured this was the case.