Sputnik International — Putting Russia on the Map: Stratfor CEO's Analysis

In an attempt to draw up a strategic portrait of Russia and to understand President Putin’s "long-term intentions in Europe,” former US chief intelligence officer and founder and CEO of the private intelligence corporation Stratfor, George Friedman, has created ten maps designed to illustrate “Russia’s difficult position since the Soviet Union collapsed.”

However, his research has produced some completely unexpected results.

“Many people think of maps in terms of their basic purpose: showing a country’s geography and topography. But maps can speak to all dimensions — political, military, and economic,” Friedman writes in his article for the New York-based magazine Business Insider.

“In fact, they are the first place to start thinking about a country’s strategy, which can reveal factors that are otherwise not obvious.”….

Russia, he says, is “more united than divided and derives power from the strength that comes from overcoming difficulty.”

With regards to Russia, he says it “isn’t prosperity that binds the country together, but a shared idealized vision of and loyalty toward Mother Russia. And in this sense, there is a deep chasm between both Europe and the United States (which use prosperity as a justification for loyalty) and Russia (for whom loyalty derives from the power of the state and the inherent definition of being Russian).”

“This support for the Russian nation remains powerful, despite the existence of diverse ethnic groups throughout the country,” he finally concludes.

Expecting economic pressure on Russia to result in political collapse as it would in the West is questionable. It seems to be based on wishful thinking and projection.

Sputnik International
Putting Russia on the Map: Stratfor CEO's Analysis

See also

Stratfor
The Geopolitics of Russia: Permanent Struggle