The problem for the EU as things currently stand apropos that organization’s economic war against Russia, is that the possibility for a Russian economic recovery within the next few months (a year at the max) is a very real (and for them, terrifying) prospect. On the other hand, the EU wants to remain “tough” vis-a-vis Russia. We have to recall that before imposing the sanctions, the Europeans (including the French and the Germans) were promising to “make Russia kneel”. Well, let’s just say that despite their full-spectrum assault, the Europeans, along with the allies across the Atlantic, over the Pacific and in the Arabian peninsula have not yet gotten their much-desired result. In fact the truth is that Russia has not only denied “kneeling” to their overwhelming financial firepower, but has actually managed to counter-attack this vast Global Empire* in the main theater of the conflict, Syria, back in Sep 2015. Their dilemma by now, is this one. If they maintain their sanctions and the Russian economy recovers nevertheless, then their lack of genuine financial leverage over Russia will become more than obvious and their humiliation will be intense. The awesome economic behemoth of 28 (or is it 29? who cares!) European democracies will be defied by that frozen wasteland, that gas station called Russia. That is surely an impossible situation for the glorious EU to bear! On the other hand, if they do remove the sanctions so as to be able to claim that any subsequent Russian economic recovery was down to their mercy, they will be seen as weak, disunited and lacking in resolve. They will also be seen as total traitors by their puppets in Kiev and the entire EuroMaidan movement which they so meticulously cultivated as an anti-Russian weapon. So, what is this precious collection of prosperous democracies to do now?
*Global Empire:
By that I mean the vast alliance system engineered and carefully designed by the USA in the aftermath of WWII. What is unique about the Empire that the US has constructed in the last 7 decades or so, is that for the first time in world history, all the advanced economic states of the planet are united under a single wing, that of the USA. This global Empire includes obviously the USA, Canada, Europe (minus Russia) Japan, Australia. All of the aforementioned states imposed financial sanctions on Russia. Beyond the advanced economies that make up the bulk of this Empire, we also find the geopolitically crucial state of Turkey as well as the incredibly wealthy petro-states of the GCC (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain) These petro-states of the GCC act as massive piggy banks for the benefit of the dominant members of this Empire as well as a mechanism for energy blackmail against defiant nations without significant energy reserves of their own.
It is this Empire that Russia and her few allies (Iran, part of Iraq, part of Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah) are clashing against and will ultimately have to defeat if they are to survive themselves.
I plan to devote a long essay on the nature of the US Empire in the near future.
Critique of geopolitics 