news

It really doesn’t have anything to do with an ideology that died in that country decades ago.

Communism isn't as dead in Russia as you think. There are far more communist sympathies in Russia than there are in any other western or post-Soviet country. The communist party is the biggest opposition to the ruling party.

China actually does domestic shit that’s respectable which is what’s given them the ability to contend with western influence and financial power

China and Russia are more alike than you might think. China is not a perfect socialist country, it has a very active market economy, and a lot of capitalistic elements to their economy, albeit always with the state having the final word and making sure capital doesn't get out of line. Russia is not a perfect capitalist country. They have a fairly large state owned sector, especially in military and resource extraction industries, and the state at times exercises strong control over the economy to discipline rogue capitalists. China has a socialist ruling party and Russia a capitalist one, but in practice their economies are closer to each other than they are to the neoliberal West.

they’re forced into preemptive action (which is not wrong), but it’s not out of some anti-imperialist ideology, it’s for their own sovereignty. Just because those actions are taken doesn’t make them anti-imperialist.

I think here there are just differing philosophical views on the importance of intent vs practical results. What good is good intent if the results are objectively bad? And if the results are objectively good, does it really matter what the intent is?

I mean the blind and uncritical faith in both Russia and China simply because they are aligned against a foe completely discounts their significant differences in the modern day, and frankly it’s insulting to China’s progress to even lump them together

I don't think we should have uncritical faith in either of them. In Russia's case it should definitely be critical support.

And yes the two countries are very different. Russia is certainly not the USSR. But Russia is for all intents and purposes allied with China, and the two countries have complementary strengths. Russia is a raw material superpower with a very advanced military industry. In many ways Russian military technology is still ahead of both the US and China, even if it's not as big by sheer size. It's also about as close to self-sufficient as a country can get. China on the other hand is a manufacturing and technology superpower. Each has what the other needs. This partnership is not going away any time soon. Their relationship is only deepening.

Most western rhetoric on Russia is in an attempt to divert public funds towards private arms companies

True. But a defeat in the Ukraine proxy war would still be extremely destabilizing for them. Due to the sheer amount of money and political capital that they have invested into this conflict, it would be viewed as a humiliating defeat of NATO and the EU, and both organizations risk falling apart as a result.

Russia’s population is in literal decline and has been for decades because their domestic policy has generated nothing for their people besides extraction

Pretty much all European countries are struggling with their demographics and for the most part the growth they do have is thanks to immigration. China's situation is not much better in this regard either. But i don't think this is as big of a deal as it is made out to be. Russia isn't going to run out of people and neither is Europe and neither is China.

Also, you should not underestimate the level of recovery that Russia has achieved compared to where they were 25 years ago. Russia today is not the Russia of the 1990s. There are a lot of problems but from what i can tell the mood seems to be generally optimistic. They have solid growth, they are regrowing their domestic industries as a result of the sanctions, living standards have greatly improved, and their international standing outside of the collective West is very good.

Whether this is sustainable in the long term remains to be seen. They may need to take a page out of China's playbook and copy some of China's policies and development strategies. But if that is the case then they are well positioned to do it, with a communist party as the second biggest independent political force in the country, and with China right next door to look to and gain inspiration from.