The Moscow Criterion (insights from the Ukrainian War)
Posted: Tue May 16, 2023 3:55 am
So...
Way back in the old days, Stuart (PBUH) essentially said that Moscow was a high level Soviet/Russian Mashkirova deception asset -- i.e. nations like the UK where a significant fraction of national GDP and assets were tied up in the Capital (aka London) mirror imaged what teh loss of London to the UK would be to the USSR, hence the UK focus on destroying Moscow; even as the UK deterrent shrank from the V-Force down to the SSBN force with Chevaline to hold a single target at risk.
At the time, it made some sense; but now that we've seen how Moscow is willing to sacrifice loads of far eastern minorities (Buryiats) in Ukraine, rather than call for increased mobilisation measures in the Moscow region (look at per capita losses for Russian Districts in the UA war); and we've gotten inputs from people like Kamil Galeev on Twitter, who recounted how Moscow always got first pick of priority produce (to the point that people would take special trains to Moscow to get stuff there that couldn't be gotten elsewhere in the USSR) in the old days.
It makes me wonder what would have happened to the USSR if pretty much everyone in the CPSU who's who got vaporized in the first few hours of WW3 gone ultimate hot -- everyone has been mirror imaging their own national polities onto the USSR and then later the Russian Federation.
For all the jokes about how the US/UK/French citizens would suggest a list of certain cities to be targeted (hit London/Paris/Washington/Baltimore etc); there's still a greater national consciousness in all of these nations that seems to be lacking in the Russian Empire -- to a lot of people in the Empire, Moscow is a faraway place that you have to send bribes every so often, and you don't get anything back in return; reducing national consciousness.
Way back in the old days, Stuart (PBUH) essentially said that Moscow was a high level Soviet/Russian Mashkirova deception asset -- i.e. nations like the UK where a significant fraction of national GDP and assets were tied up in the Capital (aka London) mirror imaged what teh loss of London to the UK would be to the USSR, hence the UK focus on destroying Moscow; even as the UK deterrent shrank from the V-Force down to the SSBN force with Chevaline to hold a single target at risk.
At the time, it made some sense; but now that we've seen how Moscow is willing to sacrifice loads of far eastern minorities (Buryiats) in Ukraine, rather than call for increased mobilisation measures in the Moscow region (look at per capita losses for Russian Districts in the UA war); and we've gotten inputs from people like Kamil Galeev on Twitter, who recounted how Moscow always got first pick of priority produce (to the point that people would take special trains to Moscow to get stuff there that couldn't be gotten elsewhere in the USSR) in the old days.
It makes me wonder what would have happened to the USSR if pretty much everyone in the CPSU who's who got vaporized in the first few hours of WW3 gone ultimate hot -- everyone has been mirror imaging their own national polities onto the USSR and then later the Russian Federation.
For all the jokes about how the US/UK/French citizens would suggest a list of certain cities to be targeted (hit London/Paris/Washington/Baltimore etc); there's still a greater national consciousness in all of these nations that seems to be lacking in the Russian Empire -- to a lot of people in the Empire, Moscow is a faraway place that you have to send bribes every so often, and you don't get anything back in return; reducing national consciousness.
