Mad Vlad of Kremlin fame must be wondering "What does a man have to do to get respect?". His rouble has crashed to new lows against the infernal dollar, and his oligarchs are crying out for relief. Meanwhile, down in Ukraine, the prime minister as been reaffirmed in his position after a parliamentary vote this week. His job secure, he can now deal with the countries sick economy. The IMF may have to revise its estimates of how much money will be needed to shore up the country's economy.
As long as the Russian Bear sits on its doorstep and continues to threaten a complete takeover, the country will remain unstable and a source of emigrants seeking refugee status in the west. As the price of oil continues going south, the outlook for Russia remains bleak. With 50% of her economy dependent on the sale of oil and natural gas, the slide in GDP will continue and western sanctions will forestall most if not all foreign investments.
This week, in France, prime minister Francois Hollande confirmed his country will not deliver the Mistral amphibious assault ship built for Russia and sold for $1.5 billions. Despite Russian sailors in France getting familiar with the operations of the ship, they will have to leave and go on a vacation, maybe to Crimea's beaches. Oh, too cold right now for holiday traffic.
Mad Vlad was in Vladivostok on the Russian east coast, talking to locals about What? Maybe he heard Scottish-like rumblings of independence, maybe not. But Vladivostok is a long, long, long way from Moscova, but close to Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo, and Pyongyang.
I expect Mad Vlad to visit Iran this week or next, to put another thumb in the eye of the West after the West's announcement that nuclear disarmament talks were extended past Monday's deadline for 7 more months. Good luck dealing with religious crazies under any circumstances, Vlad included.
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