Ask a Russian

[Yeekim]

Infrastructure. Existing and potential air, naval bases, radars, intelligence centers, missile silos, etc. Absence of buffer zone. In general, this territory is under control of adversary military block with military spending exceeding ours by an order of magnitude. And whose officials claim with straight faces that it's we who are threatening them.

So far, all decidedly "potential"...

Former Assistant Treasury Secretary (in the Reagan Administration) Dr. Paul Craig Roberts has a stark warning for the world. Dr. Roberts says, “We changed our nuclear doctrine. It used to be we used nuclear weapons only in retaliation. There was no first use, but the George W. Bush regime, the Neocons, changed our nuclear doctrine. It’s now a preemptive first strike. So, this tells both the Russians and Chinese they could get a preemptive first strike. Then, we tell the Russians we are putting missiles right on your border. You won’t have two minutes’ notice. They can’t accept that. It’s too much risk from a crazy country (U.S.) that won’t negotiate with them. . . . So, we’re headed for war. I think the only thing that would block it is if one or two of the European governments realize that they have nothing whatsoever to gain with a conflict with Russia. . . . The only thing they could do to prevent a nuclear war is to pull out of NATO.”

This is just nonsense on several levels.
First, because no missiles have ever been "put right on Russian border" - or in any of the new NATO members for that matter*, nor have any such plans been reported.
Second, because US has never pledged "no first use" of nukes. Brezhnev did, but Russia dropped that promise shortly after fall of USSR.
So that whole narrative is just fiction... to be polite about it.

*with the exception of those nukes taken from Turkey to Romania just last month or so - a move obviously due to instability in Turkey. Not that Deveselu is closer to Russia than Incirlik anyway.

 

[Verbose]

Infrastructure. Existing and potential air, naval bases, radars, intelligence centers, missile silos, etc. Absence of buffer zone. In general, this territory is under control of adversary military block with military spending exceeding ours by an order of magnitude. And whose officials claim with straight faces that it's we who are threatening them.

And yet it's your words that "are backed with nuclear weapons"...

In international politics Russia these days does not sound very "normal", or act it, yet there is apparently a kind of blind spot about itself when viewed from inside Russia.

 

[red_elk]

Both last Czech presidents have same choice with same reasoning. Russian agents?

No, just liberal democracy.

Hmm, strange about the Ukrainians. Some Russian friends who live here say that Ukrainians are really Polish nazis.

They are talking about specific kind of Ukrainians. And I hope this kind is just a vocal minority there.

And yet it's your words that "are backed with nuclear weapons"...

I didn't say that. I said even if NATO was planning to invade Russia, there would be no sense to pile up hundreds of thousands troops in Baltic States, because they would be easy target there. And you understood it as a threatening language.

Does he stand any chance of, well, adding more terms?

(I think declaring himself outright President for life as Tito did is a bit too far, but perhaps repealing limits on re-election would be feasible)

Well, yes, I don't know who will be our next president after Putin. May be Putin.

 

[Mustakrakish]

Putin is here to stay, folks. Putin is put in for life

 

[Takhisis]

Someone pay the jyväskylän's WoW fees so he can go back to making bad puns with the people over there.

They are talking about specific kind of Ukrainians. And I hope this kind is just a vocal minority there.

They repeat what their friends in Russia tell them.

Well, yes, I don't know who will be our next president after Putin. May be Putin.

And will the next PM be still Dimitri Medvedev?

 

[red_elk]

And will the next PM be still Dimitri Medvedev?

Yes, of course. We like our American boy!


Link to video.

 

[civman110]

What is Russia's stance on Middle Eastern policy and terrorism?

 

[red_elk]

In short, I would describe Russian Middle Eastern policy as either non-involvement or supporting local secular governments against radical islamists. Depending on the country.

As for terrorism, there is no particular official stance on it (except fighting against it, of course). From what I can see, current FSB strategy seems to be focused on preventing it through work of intelligence - such as infiltration of agents and stuff like that. And also by preventing spread of radical islamist ideologies among Russian Muslims. Of course it's just my understanding and the overall strategy should be much more complex than I described. To me it looks quite successful so far - rate of terrorist attacks considerably reduced comparing to the previous decade.

 

[civman110]

In short, I would describe Russian Middle Eastern policy as either non-involvement or supporting local secular governments against radical islamists. Depending on the country.

I don't believe that's the whole story. If Russia is favoring certain governments over others they clearly do have some sort of agenda, other than simply secularism for secularism's sake. From my encounters with Russians they are generally very pragmatic people, so I cannot see their government pursuing such a policy.

As for terrorism, there is no particular official stance on it (except fighting against it, of course). From what I can see, current FSB strategy seems to be focused on preventing it through work of intelligence - such as infiltration of agents and stuff like that. And also by preventing spread of radical islamist ideologies among Russian Muslims. Of course it's just my understanding and the overall strategy should be much more complex than I described. To me it looks quite successful so far - rate of terrorist attacks considerably reduced comparing to the previous decade.

What about internationally?

 

[red_elk]

I don't believe that's the whole story. If Russia is favoring certain governments over others they clearly do have some sort of agenda, other than simply secularism for secularism's sake. From my encounters with Russians they are generally very pragmatic people, so I cannot see their government pursuing such a policy.

Well, of course it's not for secularism's sake, it's for the sake of stability in the region and preventing spread of ideologies such as Wahhabism. Which is important for Russian national security. I can't describe you a universal agenda or general rule of thumb for Russia's actions in the region. From what I see, they are purely pragmatic. Russia supports traditional allies (Syria), has some economical interests in the area, infrastructure projects, a military base. Nothing special.

What about internationally?

First of all, it's direct participation in fight against ISIS in Syria. Except that, there are all kinds of international activities such as participation in anti-terrorist committees and workgroups created in UN and other international organizations. Cooperation in nuclear non-proliferation. Exchange information with foreign security agencies, etc.

 

[civman110]

Well, of course it's not for secularism's sake, it's for the sake of stability in the region and preventing spread of ideologies such as Wahhabism. Which is important for Russian national security. I can't describe you a universal agenda or general rule of thumb for Russia's actions in the region. From what I see, they are purely pragmatic. Russia supports traditional allies (Syria), has some economical interests in the area, infrastructure projects, a military base. Nothing special.

So you'd describe their Middle Eastern policy as mainly reactive, rather than in pursuit of some pro-active agenda?

First of all, it's direct participation in fight against ISIS in Syria. Except that, there are all kinds of international activities such as participation in anti-terrorist committees and workgroups created in UN and other international organizations. Cooperation in nuclear non-proliferation. Exchange information with foreign security agencies, etc.

So, mainly only concerned about counter-terrorism, within their own borders and that of their allies?

 

[red_elk]

So you'd describe their Middle Eastern policy as mainly reactive, rather than in pursuit of some pro-active agenda?

No, I wouldn't say Putin's policy is a reactive one. For example, fight against ISIS in Syria is quite pro-active in terms of national security. Middle-Eastern agenda, as far as I understand is just generally the same as in other regions - supporting our allies, securing economical and geostrategical interests, fighting against extremism and international terrorism. And taking into account specifics of each country, not just specifics of the whole region.

It's just difficult to talk about Middle East as a whole. Policies are different for each country and full answer would be lengthy and broken down by countries. For some of them I would be unable to give answer without additional research - like I'm sure Russia has some policies in regards to Lebanon or Qatar, but I'm just not knowledgeable enough to give it without preparation.

So, mainly only concerned about counter-terrorism, within their own borders and that of their allies?

Military operations within own borders and that of our allies. Plus worldwide diplomatic and intelligence cooperation.

 

[civman110]

No, I wouldn't say Putin's policy is a reactive one. For example, fight against ISIS in Syria is quite pro-active in terms of national security. Middle-Eastern agenda, as far as I understand is just generally the same as in other regions - supporting our allies, securing economical and geostrategical interests, fighting against extremism and international terrorism. And taking into account specifics of each country, not just specifics of the whole region.

So mainly a focus on stability and economic ties? No grandiose plans like Obama's "What we’ve got to do is make sure that we are organizing the Arab world, the Middle East, the Muslim world..." strategy?

It's just difficult to talk about Middle East as a whole. Policies are different for each country and full answer would be lengthy and broken down by countries. For some of them I would be unable to give answer without additional research - like I'm sure Russia has some policies in regards to Lebanon or Qatar, but I'm just not knowledgeable enough to give it without preparation.

For sure.

Military operations within own borders and that of our allies. Plus worldwide diplomatic and intelligence cooperation.

Makes sense.

 

[red_elk]

Detailed answer about Middle-Eastern policy:
http://carnegie.ru/2016/04/05/russi...objectives-priorities-and-policy-drivers/iwni

No grandiose plans like Obama's "What we’ve got to do is make sure that we are organizing the Arab world, the Middle East, the Muslim world..." strategy?

No, we have no resources for that.

 

[Mustakrakish]

Someone pay the jyväskylän's WoW fees so he can go back to making bad puns with the people over there.

Heeey! Rude! Oh yeah?! Well... it's like just your opinion man! You're a bad pun I don't play WoW, but you can pay for my civ VI copy

 

[Takhisis]

I can pay for your DotA2 subscription.

@red_elk: do you have instructions on how to write in Cyrillic cursive (joined-up, as some call it) letters? I'm quite good at doing the individual block letters, upper and lowercase, but I don't know how to do these.

 

[tetley]

Is the pickpocketing in the Russian major cities really bad, or is it just the tourists being singled out?

 

[red_elk]

do you have instructions on how to write in Cyrillic cursive (joined-up, as some call it) letters? I'm quite good at doing the individual block letters, upper and lowercase, but I don't know how to do these.

There's a link to practice sheet in English wiki page.
https://lingualift.com/blog/russian-cursive-writing-practice-sheet/

Except that, I can only find the similar sheets for kids in Russian.

Is the pickpocketing in the Russian major cities really bad, or is it just the tourists being singled out?

From my personal perspective no, I have never been pick-pocketed in my life. Though I'm usually careful. And also, I was robbed once ~20 years ago. People who look like tourists, I can imagine, get special attention from thieves. Like everywhere.

 

[REDY]

I have wallet in my back pocket rushing through centre of Prague (one of European centres of pickpocketing) for years everyday and I have never been pickpocketed in my life. My only explanation is that thieves differ tourists from locals. The pickpocketing as well begging is made by gypsy proffesionals in all tourist cities in Europe. I would expect that Russian cities are much safer in this.

 

[red_elk]

They may be a bit safer, though I'm not sure about that. Anyway I recommend to be watchful and of course keeping wallet in back pocket is bad practice.