688. Sir Richard Shirreff - Russia is on its Knees - We Should not Let it Get Back up to Rearm & Regroup.

Vladimir Putin’s obsession with dominating Ukraine stems from a mix of geopolitical paranoia, historical revisionism, and authoritarian self-preservation. He views Ukraine’s westward shift in political aspirations and values—especially EU integration—as a direct threat to Russia’s sphere of influence and his regime’s legitimacy and indeed survivability. Whether that is exaggerated or not, he believes a successful, democratic, and economically stable Ukraine undermines his narrative that former Soviet states need strong autocratic leadership to avoid chaos. It means that he won’t stop until Ukraine is subjugated or destroyed. By subjugating Ukraine, he hopes to reassert Russia’s status as a great power, discourage other neighbours from pivoting west, and distract from domestic issues through nationalist fervour. Ultimately, Putin fears the erosion of Russia's imperial legacy and the contagion of democratic aspirations among his own people—making Ukraine not just a strategic interest, but an existential concern for his rule and survival. ----------Richard Shirreff is Co-founder and Managing Partner at Strategia Worldwide. After graduating from Oxford, he served in the British Army for 37 years commanding soldiers on operations or in combat at every level from platoon to division and rising to the highest rank before retiring from the Army as NATO’s Deputy Supreme Commander Europe. Richard is co-Founder and Managing Partner of Strategia Worldwide. In 2016 his novel ‘2017: War with Russia’ was published in the UK, USA, and Poland. He is an honorary Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.----------CHAPTERS:00:00:00 Xxx----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's frontline towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrashttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain/collections----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------LINKS:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Shirreff https://twitter.com/RichardShirreff https://www.strategiaworldwide.com/our-people/sir-richard-shirreffhttps://www.globsec.org/who-we-are/our-people/gen-ret-sir-richard-shirreff https://www.brookings.edu/events/is-armed-conflict-with-russia-a-real-possibility/ ----------PLATFORMS:Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqmLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------PLATFORMS:Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqmLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------