
Trump and Putin: The worst case scenario (2016) - mbroshi
https://qz.com/871436/donald-trump-nuclear-weapons-putin-and-trump-release-statements-that-hint-at-increased-nuclear-armament/
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api
This will get flagged, but it's a decent article.

I've thought for a while that Trump is not Putin's puppet but rather a Putin
wannabe. He's too egotistical to be anyone's puppet. His goal is to become
America's effective dictator, eventually either rigging (like Putin) or
abolishing the electoral process. A partnership with another totalitarian
oligarch would be fitting and very helpful toward this goal.

If the thesis in this article is correct the target of such a partnership
would likely be China and to a lesser extent Japan and the EU, since those are
the only world powers who could challenge Russia or America.

There's an intellectual basis to it as well. Putin is purportedly a believer
in many of the same ideas that one finds in America's alt-right: esoteric
post-war fascism (search for Julius Evola) and neo-reaction / neo-feudalism.
The end goal is probably more feudal than fascist, though the distinction is
somewhat academic.

If such a scenario unfolded we'd end up with something like a planetary
nobility.

