Russia and Ukraine

[Anomalocaris]

no, they are powerful because they can invade ukraine to secure their existential interests.

I probably have a different idea of power than you do.  Or, if on the odd chance we're agreed on what power is - it's acceptable use when possessed.  

One thing, from all of this, I think is certain.  There will have to be a re-envisioning of the world order in light of this (or the next thing).  It's a test of the legend of putin, and of russian ascendancy.

russia is not ascendant.    she just made her own decline much slower.   demographically and economically russia is moribund, having a negative population growth rate, poor infrastructure and poor industry and industrial organization.    her relative strength compare to leading powers will undoubtedly continue to slowly decline.   But she still has the ability to prevent others from accelerating her decline.

incorporating ukraine won’t help.  ukraine’s demographics crisis is much more dire than Russia’s own. 

However she has some very valuable things which she could parley into a partnership with up and coming powers such as china.   natural resource, obviously, direct access to most of euroasia through interior lines of communication that is immune to interference by American sea power,  a education system that remain very high quality and produce more STEM graduates, and arguably graduates of higher average quality, then American or European universities, and expertise in elite fields of military technology that does not flow naturally out of general state of economic and industrial debrlipememt, and which would be time consuming for up and coming powers like china to replicate by themselves.

our effort to pry ukraine from russia in all likelihood just made a major contribution towards adding Russia to a china centric block.    Does that hurt democracy more or less than refusing to let Ukraine join NATO?