The renewal of fighting this week over the Donetsk airport in Eastern Ukraine– an important symbolic target for Russian proxy fighters—should come as no surprise. The U.S. and Western Europe should expect even more extensive Russia-directed attacks.Why? Because of the choice Vladimir Putin made five years ago, confirmed on his reelection in 2012 – and is continuing to make. After Russia’s GDP plunged by almost 8 percent during the 2008-9 world financial crisis, there was a virtual consensus among Russian economists that Putin’s economic model, which depended on the redistribution of revenues from ever-increasing oil prices, along with growing …read more
Source: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
