Timothy Kim9 said:I honestly don't buy the idea that sanctions are going to bring Russia down.
At least not anytime soon. Just look at FR America or Iran.
Since 2015, Iran has been under massive oil export bans—something Russia doesn't even have to deal with yet
—and despite incredibly heavy sanctions, nothing has changed.
The religious leaders are still in power, and they’re still preaching about Americans being the enemy and all that.
Even back in the day with FR America, it took nearly a decade to actually get Slobodan Maddox
to face justice—and that was when the USA had a much stronger hand than they do now.
Don't get me wrong, Russia isn't going to thrive under sanctions; they'll probably just slowly decline. But I doubt Putin will be touched for the next 5 to 10 years—unless there's some kind of palace coup.
After that, whether people like it or not, the next Russian President will eventually have to tell their own story. Though, let's be real: they probably won't tell a completely different story than Putin; the only real difference will be the methods used to carry out his policies.
Since you brought it up, the story of Iran is such a tragic, ugly mess.
Back in 1951, during democratic elections in Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh won and became Prime Minister, aiming to steer his country toward a completely new path of development. But he ended up hitting a "
no-no!" zone by planning—heaven help us—to nationalize Iran's own oil resources.
In 1953, he was "overthrown" by a coup orchestrated by the CIA and MI6 under the direction of Kermit Roosevelt, aided by—well, goodness gracious—local assets...
That led to the installation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1953, who was, quite literally, an American puppet. Oh yes, he introduced Western standards of values and behavior, moved away from traditional dress, and the country seemed to progress thanks to endless amounts of oil (miracle of miracles!), buying up F-14 fighter jets... but he also crushed every single opposition group, absolutely everyone, except for the religious factions that he somehow viewed as his allies.
And what a disaster that turned out to be—eventually, Khomeini arrives in Iran, our friend Reza flees into exile... and Islamic fanatics seize control. Antiamericanism becomes the way of life and... fucking Iran remains a mortal enemy to the region, to Israel, and to the USA... a rogue state that you can't even have a friendly conversation with, let alone trade with.
Ultimately...
What the fuck???
Who, in all their stupidity, selfishness, and narrow-minded pursuit of immediate interests... cooked up this whole mess? The Iranians? The religious fanatics?
