Which they are entitled to — but effectively their alternative here would be retaliating against half the world. Which in a non-military way is effectively what the world wants, as it will hurt Russia just a bit more than everyone else on their own. And if they wage war on half the world, good luck to them.
That's half the world? Asia alone is almost entirely either anti or apathetic towards NATO and Western sanctimonious BS, and that's 60% of the world's population.
Baffling you'd assume Africans, who unilaterally despise American and Western colonialism and primarily align with China, would also be on your side.
The fact Americans continue to assume this some great battle between Good vs. Evil is absurd. Russia is fighting for what America took from them - and winning.
NATO invaded multiple Middle Eastern countries for nearly 2 decades for oil. Americans thinking they're the good guys in any way is a joke.
> Asia alone is almost entirely either anti or apathetic towards NATO and Western sanctimonious BS, and that's 60% of the world's population.
There's more to Asia than China, Russia, and North Korea. Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan are not "apathetic toward NATO and Western sanctimonious BS". If they were, they wouldn't allow US military installations in their sovereign territory. Taiwan and South Korea count on "NATO and Western sanctimonious BS" to continue existing (well, South Korea might theoretically be able to defeat North Korea on its own if it were a one-on-one conflict, but in reality it's mostly about US support).
> Russia is fighting for what America took from them - and winning.
America didn't "take" Ukraine from Russia. No Americans were seated at the Belovezh Accords: the Soviets decided to break up themselves. Ukraine has the right as a sovereign nation to make its own decisions.
> NATO invaded multiple Middle Eastern countries for nearly 2 decades for oil.
No, it wasn't for oil, and no, it wasn't "NATO" that invaded Iraq--it was called the "coalition of the willing" specifically to distinguish it from NATO. The Iraq War was a bad idea, but not because NATO wanted oil.
> Baffling you'd assume Africans, who unilaterally despise American and Western colonialism and primarily align with China, would also be on your side.
Yes, but this doesn't mean that they'd therefore side with Russia attempting to reinstate a colonialist empire. That really, really doesn't make sense (and indeed, everything coming from Africa has been condemnation of Russia's invasion).
And keep in mind that China seems to not really be a fan of Russia's aggression here, while they really dislike NATO, they seem to be signaling that they didn't expect an invasion of the scale that happened, and would have preferred less. I mean China is participating, to a limited extent, in sanctions against Russia.
Leaving aside how likely it is that Russia will be #6 at this rate (not particularly likely), the US, Germany, and the UK are all undeniably part of the West. Brazil and Japan are allies of the US [1]. The US has friendly relations with India, Indonesia, and Mexico. So this claim seems untrue.
These numbers are PPP. With PPP, you already have China in number 1. PPP is very incorrect in comparing raw output. In my opinion, we are going to learn (the hard way) in the next few years that GDP is utter crap when comparing countries' power.
By GDP, a populous country can have a very large GDP because it has too many people doing too much around. But all they can be doing is making coffee and painting roofs. They have no technology and no important military installations. These countries cannot negotiate well, especially if they are tourism-driven (ie: Indonesia) and thus are very vulnerable to sanctions.
The only country that seems it can break off is China. All other countries will remain dependent on the West. Even more so when their economies grow larger. They are highly dependent and vulnerable.
1. Russia's economic growth has mirrored Germany, UK and has surpassed Brazil for nearly 2 decades despite a constant barrage of sanctions. But sure, Russia is the one who will flop
2. Brazil and Japan being allies do not make them Western states, much less NATO states. Saudi Arabia is technically an ally as well. India, our "ally", isn't denouncing Russia and has extreme anti-liberal Hindu nationalist political forces running the country.
You think Brazil will go to war against China supporting the US? That's delusional.
3. Even according to this particular report, the US is the only Western/NATO country in the top 9
The fact you think this comment somehow disputed me is a joke. Western Europe/America's dominance over the last several hundred years has come to an end. The balance of power in the world has shifted back to the East. People on this comment thread are like Brits in the 30s - not the slightest clue the world they grew up in doesn't exist anymore.
Americans aren't ready for a world which China (and subsequently, it's allies, like Russia, Iran, etc.) dominates.
In any event, this is a case of moving the goalposts. The claim that the US is predicted to be the only Western state in the top 10 economies is still untrue. Here's another list, with Germany, France, and the UK all projected to be in the top 10 in 2050: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-global-economic-fore... Tellingly, this one sees Russia drop out of the top 10 entirely.
