I would be interested in your thoughts on how Mr. Putin continues to defy economic gravity.
When you look at Russia in terms of GDP, you can see that it's smaller than Canada. It's possibly the size of Texas in terms of GDP and is relatively insignificant in global terms. GDP per person is minimal. The population has flatlined. The economy shrank by 3.5%. Their military spending was 4.5% in 2015 and is now 9% of a relatively shrivelled GDP. All of this speaks to the issue of how long this can carry on.
Is this a real threat or an appearance of threat? I would be interested in your thoughts as to how long Mr. Putin can carry this on.