korrents

What Sarah Paine thinks about Russia

@sarah-paine · 26 positions · 0 changes of mind

Historian of maritime and continental empires who taught strategy at the U.S. Naval War College for twenty-four years.

Sarah Paine did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

6 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Sarah Paine has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingRussia has never had a commerce-driven economy, and Xi Jinping has been privileging China's crony sector over its private sector.

    Their wordsAnd Russia's never had a commerce-driven economy. China much more so under Deng Xiaoping, but recently Xi Jinping has been privileging the crony sector over the private sector and neither one has stable government institutions.

    ↗Sarah Paine - Why Putin and Xi can't escape geographyyoutube.com 2nd of 26 in this recording

    governmentChina

    Interesting

  3. Our readingChina and Russia have maritime ambitions without understanding what a maritime paradigm actually requires, and neither one has the prerequisites.

    Their wordsSo, China and Russia certainly have maritime ambitions, but I'm not clear they actually understand what goes into a full maritime paradigm.

    ↗Sarah Paine - Why Putin and Xi can't escape geographyyoutube.com 3rd of 26 in this recording

    China

    Interesting

  5. Our readingThe continental playbook is to take your neighbours one at a time — destabilise the rising, ingest the failing, wait to pounce — and that is Putin's game.

    Their wordsYou set them up to fail, you destabilize the rising, you ingest the failing, and you set up buffer zones in between, and you await the opportune moment to pounce and absorb. This is Vladimir Putin's game.

    ↗Sarah Paine - Why Putin and Xi can't escape geographyyoutube.com 9th of 26 in this recording

    Interesting

  7. Our readingRussia and China are ringed by the most dysfunctional places on the planet because their own security paradigm manufactures failing states.

    Their wordsOne, you're surrounding yourself by failing states. You can look at Russia and China and they're surrounded by some of the most dysfunctional places on the planet and you go, "Gee whiz, are they unlucky or they complicit?"

    ↗Sarah Paine - Why Putin and Xi can't escape geographyyoutube.com 10th of 26 in this recording

    China

    Interesting

  9. Our readingThere is no counsel in the continental world on when to stop taking territory, which is why Chinese and Russian empires keep overextending and imploding.

    Their wordsAnd it turns out that there's been a tendency over the course of China's and Russia's long histories to overextend and this helps account for the implosions of various empires and dynasties.

    ↗Sarah Paine - Why Putin and Xi can't escape geographyyoutube.com 11th of 26 in this recording

    China

    Interesting

  11. Our readingPutin's objection to the post-Cold-War trade boom is not that it failed but that the wealth was not being made at his house.

    Their wordsIt was a miracle of your lifetimes. It lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. The problem for the likes of Putin is that this wealth producing trade was not happening at his house, but the houses of those vested in the trading order, not in extortion.

    ↗Sarah Paine - Why Putin and Xi can't escape geographyyoutube.com 19th of 26 in this recording

    Interesting