Originally posted by
Chris
Putin is weaker than you think. Russia is not the Soviet Union, or the Russian Empire, which spanned half the globe from the Canadian border to the Borders of Germany, Austria and Sweden. It is currently a much weaker country with an economy considerably smaller than Italy's. Its real existential threat comes from China, despite the apparently cordial relations between the two. Russia used to own Manchuria, which is now part of China. The Chinese clearly have their eyes on Siberia and have already managed to take control of most of Central Asia, at Russia's expense. During Soviet Times, the SU had more divisions stationed at the Chinese Border than in Europe and border clashes were constant. Siberia is emptying out of Russians, but close to a million Chinese are moving there every year. Vladivostok is a stone's Throw away from the Chinese border, but half a world away from Moscow, connected to it by a single railway line, with the Journey taking over a week.
The sanctions are also hurting the Russian economy, despite the brave face Putin's putting on (sorry for the pun). More and more Russians are unhappy with the way he's running the economy and for the first time during his tenure, there were protests against him, due to austerity measures. The Russian economy should be riding high right now, but his foreign policy adventures are isolating the country and making it less prosperous and increasingly an international Pariah. That is probably something that will also happen with Trump, eventually, but it may take some time.