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Originally Posted by blankall
I didn't get that from the Caspian Report video at all.
They made the case that Russia's geography forced them to dominate minority groups in order to secure its borders and expand. Russia is a state with a core ethnic Russian population that dominates and subjugates surrounding ethnic groups. Many of these groups are not loyal to Russia. This creates a diverse set of competing interests within Russia's boundaries, which prevents Russia from being truly democratic.
Extreme examples are places like Chechnya. Russia wants to hold onto these areas, as their geography means they are strategically important. However, the Chechens are clearly far from loyal to Russia, and Russia has to use heavy military force to keep them part of Russia.
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Russia just pours money into Chechnya to keep them placated. If the Russian economy craters and the gravy train stops, they will probably be back to their separatist ways.