Dear readers, at the end of this depressing week, I would like to bring to your attention three background texts on the situation in Russia and Ukraine that many of you, like myself, have found worth reading in the midst of the deluge of breaking news over the past few days .

There is the play by the well-known management consultant Hermann Simon, who analyzes Russia's economic weakness in detail.

In addition, there is the essay by the Crimean-born author Nikolai Klimeniouk about the power and fairy tales of the autocrat Vladimir Putin and the play by James W. Davis, the director of the Institute for Political Science at the University of St. Gallen, which analyzes what the West should have learned from the Yugoslav war – actually.

Carsten Knop

Editor.

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It is astonishing that Russia's economic situation is almost completely left out of the public discussion about the current crisis, writes Simon.

Although politics is outshining everything else at the moment, he is certain that economic power will gain the upper hand in the long term and will limit Russia's political options for action.

Putin's current behavior is likely to prove counterproductive for Russia's economic development.

Just for comparison: In 2021 Russia had a gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.65 trillion US dollars.

American GDP was $22.94 trillion.

So Russia only accounts for 7.2 percent of American economic output.

Russia is rich in raw materials.

But that's it.

There is also a lack of any innovative power.

The problem: If Russia becomes poorer, it becomes more dangerous - perhaps this is an important reason for the war.

Klimeniouk is certain that Putin's only concern is to demonstrate the power he has currently achieved to the whole world, his people and, last but not least, his own followers.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine also serves this purpose only.

There is Putin's hour-long speech, in which he presented his peculiar view of history and, related to that, denied Ukraine's right to exist.

It sounded so crazy that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, contrary to all diplomatic conventions, described Putin as insane.

But there is no longer a collective leadership in Russia, there is no one who could moderate Putin.

According to Klimeniouk, Germany, with its naivety and inaction, helped Putin to establish an unrestricted dictatorship that only served his own interests and satisfied his cravings.

We should remember the horrors of the Yugoslav

war as we ask ourselves what to expect after Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, Davis writes.

Like those Serbian nationalists who at the time relied on a selective reading of history to legitimize their dream of a Greater Serbia, Putin weaved disparate elements from centuries of history together to reinforce the notion of an eternal unity between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples.

All the best and have a nice weekend despite everything,

Many greetings,

Yours, Carsten Knop

Publisher


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung