On Politics, War by Other Means — 04
Putin’s Strategy is coming into view. If you weren’t clear on it, World War III has started.
Putin botched the opening strike on Ukraine. With that, went his one chance for a quick war. It’s going to be a grinding war of attrition now, but he thinks he can win it. He thinks it’s worth it.
The chart above tells you why.
There’s an old saying that amateurs talk about tactics, dilettantes discuss strategy, professionals study logistics. In a world where the grain supply in 2020 was 157.3m tonnes, Russia now controls 55.6m tonnes. About one third.
Russia just became a food superpower.
“So what”, you say. “Putin is losing”.
Really?
He reminded everyone that Russia is still a nuclear power. He made it very clear he would use them if other countries attempted to intervene directly. Guess what? No one was willing to cross that line and call his bluff.
No other powers are going to intervene in Ukraine. Putin kept everyone else out of the conflict.
That means it’s just Russia versus Ukraine.
Russia will win that war.
