Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro revealed the top five things Americans need to know about Russia in the latest episode of “Facts.”
In the episode, which was released Saturday morning, Shapiro explained that Russia had been a focus of U.S. foreign policy for decades because of its proximity to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Shapiro noted that one of the key questions about Russia today is whether it is a country on the rise or a country declining.
“From tsarist Russia to the Soviet Union to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Russia has been one of the great powers involved in nearly every major world event over the last two centuries,” Shapiro said. “But why does this matter? Why should you care?”
The first fact to know about Russia, Shapiro said, is that it is struggling demographically as it deals with low birth rates and a low life expectancy — in part due to excessive alcoholism. Currently, more people die every year in Russia than are born as the fertility rate stays around 1.5 births per woman.
Secondly, Russia is also floundering economically, having difficulty bouncing back after the 2008 recession. Many Russians live in poverty, with about one in five not having access to indoor plumbing. Russia’s economy is also held back by rampant corruption and disrespect for private property rights.
The third fact to know about Russia, according to Shapiro, is that it has a military crisis as well. Its invasion of Ukraine has been costly as it has been estimated to have lost up to 300,000 men and there seems to be no end in sight for the war.
“Russia’s military technology is antiquated compared to modern militaries – which is why Ukraine has been able to repel Russia’s invasion thus far. But Russia does have a long history of throwing bodies at military problems – from the Napoleonic Wars to World War II,” Shapiro said.
Fourth, Shapiro said that Russia was a corrupt dictatorship that ranked as one of the lowest countries in the world for political freedom.
“Russia’s government is not comparable to that of the United States, and any comparison between the two ought to be rejected out of hand. That is not a defense of the myriad problems with the U.S. government, ranging from the Department of Justice’s persecution of political opponents to the American government’s collusion with Big Tech to restrict informational flow. But Russia is in a completely different universe,” Shapiro said.
Finally, Shapiro explained why Russia behaved the way it had on the global stage.
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“The running theme of Russian history is a desire to be accepted as a great power on the world stage,” Shapiro said. “How far is Russia willing to go? Putin has forged solidarity with Brazilian far-Leftist Lula De Silva, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, the mullahs in Iran, and the leaders of terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and of course, the Chinese government.”
Shapiro ended by noting that taking a tougher approach to Russia worked better than a more softer approach. He pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not take any major territorial initiatives under former President Donald Trump, unlike former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden.
“So, is Russia a threat? Its interests have only rarely overlapped with those of the United States. And since geopolitics is in fact a zero sum game to the Russians, the answer is that Putin is very unlikely to suddenly moderate his plans in the face of Western conciliation,” he said.
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