To sharpen the point a little, if anyone disagrees with Putin, they find themselves dead. So we're witnessing the outcome.
One unsettling thought is that Putin intentionally did this, and realized that this would happen -- and doesn't care.
The other unsettling thought is that China might be able to prop them up through this. Us disconnecting Russia is a massive opportunity for them. China even abstained from voting on the world stage when everyone was condemning Russia's actions.
So it's possible that external forces are giving Putin a picture of, "go through with this, and we'll come out of it strong together."
China's voting behavior in the security council has been consistently predictable, to the point that Chinese people would laugh at the abstentions at almost every noteworthy issue.
It would be interesting to know what the Chinese leadership think about the world's reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and how that may affect their designs for Taiwan.
One unsettling thought is that Putin intentionally did this, and realized that this would happen -- and doesn't care.
The other unsettling thought is that China might be able to prop them up through this. Us disconnecting Russia is a massive opportunity for them. China even abstained from voting on the world stage when everyone was condemning Russia's actions.
So it's possible that external forces are giving Putin a picture of, "go through with this, and we'll come out of it strong together."