If War Comes, Russia Could Disconnect from the Internet. Yes, the Entire Country

NIMBY said:

Absolutely--as they support the bermuda triangle of iran, syria, and north korea.
Three to watch are Saudi, Israel, and India--as there are now direct flights from New Delhi to Tel Aviv over Saudi ...

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Russia has fully embraced a serious asymmetric model to decapitate the west. Putin wants a seat at the table again. It'll be interesting to see what happens with NK. Iran has a serious stake in that outcome.

Looks like by Post #6, we were done talking about the OP.

The world's leading paranoid folks parade their systematized delusions of persecution, interspersed with delusions of grandeur.

Just look what your war mongering governments have done to y'all.

humbolt said:

Not really. I'm getting tired of Putin's blustering and posturing though. These dictatorial regimes - China and Russia in particular - can spend $10 billion tomorrow with a simple directive.

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Do you think Putin's posturing is happening in a vacuum?

Fishking said:

Do you think Putin's posturing is happening in a vacuum?

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Surely not, but Russia and Putin have more than their share of problems, and this or that new weapon won't solve them.

humbolt said:

Surely not, but Russia and Putin have more than their share of problems, and this or that new weapon won't solve them.

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And what are those problems? Do they have anything to do with the foreign policy of other countries, like the US?

Fishking said:

And what are those problems? Do they have anything to do with the foreign policy of other countries, like the US?

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They are internal to Russia, and they're economic. First, the wages of most Russians have fallen precipitously in recent years. Two and three are inter-related in that Russia has floated the ruble as you may remember, and their chief source of income is oil. They are hostage to the oil market and their wildly fluctuating currency, which can change in value as much as 70% within one month. It would be interesting to try to write a contract on that basis. Furthermore, Chinese investment in Russia has not materialized in anywhere near the amount hoped. It seems China has designs elsewhere.

Oozlefinch said:

In 2003 the US actively tried to cut Iraq off from the Internet, and was unable to do so. There is no way Russia could do it to themselves, even if they want to.

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We didn't manage to succeed entirely, but Iraq's wings were clipped pretty seriously.

humbolt said:

They are internal to Russia, and they're economic. First, the wages of most Russians have fallen precipitously in recent years. Two and three are inter-related in that Russia has floated the ruble as you may remember, and their chief source of income is oil. They are hostage to the oil market and their wildly fluctuating currency, which can change in value as much as 70% within one month. It would be interesting to try to write a contract on that basis. Furthermore, Chinese investment in Russia has not materialized in anywhere near the amount hoped. It seems China has designs elsewhere.

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So that has nothing to do with sanctions and our desire to try and block them out of the EU market?

Fishking said:

So that has nothing to do with sanctions and our desire to try and block them out of the EU market?

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Directly? No, but such things are always related. Putin's designs come at a cost and given their economy, it increasingly becomes a zero sum game. There is also a point beyond which sanctions work against the interests of the west. I think we are at that point, but naturally many disagree. In this I think it's important to understand the difference between internal US politics and sound foreign policy.

Rogue Valley said:

If War Comes, Russia Could Disconnect from the Internet. Yes, the Entire Country

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Russia also has its own GPS system ... GLONASS (ГЛОНАСС). But disconnecting from the Internet would deprive Russia of tools such as the global SWIFT system which makes electronic banking and credit card transactions possible.

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This is exactly why they will not. Since the destruction of the Union the Russian Federation thrives and survives on the very ideas it was against. Without the ability to accumulate and transfer capital on a global scale , the very thing that supports the Federation will be its own destruction. By destruction I mean economic stagnation which leads to poor living conditions, poor business, and an overall degeneration of the country. But it is quite possible that in the future these systems may be supplemented for native ones that act either as a crutch or a lead in economic world development and are therefore like the SWIFT system are required for further growth.