Vladmir Putin is facing an ugly comeuppance tomorrow
While Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine has fared much more poorly than Vladimir Putin could have hoped for – even losing considerable support among a population where the news media is heavily suppressed by the government and Ukraine managing to more competently defend itself against an invasion than any experts imagined, there has been growing speculation that the country will default on its debt, as this is the first time in over a century – since the chaotic days of the Russian Revolution, that Russia has failed to meet its foreign debt obligations.
Just a few weeks into an invasion that shows how poorly his army is trained, the heavy sanctions placed on Russia by the United States and much of the rest of the world are finally beginning to take effect in full – and a default could drive out the few investors still left in the country.
The International Monetary Fund is predicting that the default could happen as soon as Wednesday – with a default of somewhere around $60 billion in foreign debt, placing even further pressure on Putin to withdraw from Ukraine or be forced to beg China for food rations at a time when he has no real leverage on the world stage.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making