I find it deeply concerning that not only are Trump’s ties to Russia being ignored by the U.S. media but that the entire situation playing out right now in Russia is being ignored. Analysts believe Russia is broke and it will likely go bankrupt in 2017. This situation has been unfolding since the financial crisis of 2008 and at every step Putin has acted in increasingly belligerent ways. Putin’s actions endanger the US and its allies and yet there has been no coherent discussion about them.
Vladimir Putin rose to office in Russia on the idea that he would honor the old Soviet “contract with the people" to take care of them. His ability to do that was entirely dependent on oil revenues. In 2008 the economic crisis caused a dramatic and persistent drop in oil prices. As a result, Putin didn't have the cash to hold up his end of the contract and Russia’s already poor living conditions rapidly declined.
By 2011 the effects of the recession were causing tensions to rise in Russia. When Putin was re-elected that year (amid substantial evidence of election fraud) there were widespread protests. Putin’s reaction to this was to claim that the protests were a CIA plot against Russia. Hillary Clinton was secretary of State at the time and Putin identified her specifically as the mastermind of that plot. This led to a campaign of anti-American sentiment in the State-run media and a massive crack down against protesters and free speech.
Putin was successful in Russia in using the hatred of Americans and demonization of Hillary Clinton to stay in power. However, in 2013 in the Ukraine, Euromaidan protests started. These lead to the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution that ousted the pro-Putin President Viktor Yanukovych. Its worth noting here that Yanukovych employed and possibly made illegal payments to Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
In response to the Ukrainian revolution, Russian troops invaded the Ukraine and seized Crimea and portions of the Donbass. It’s important to note that these regions are of both strategic and economic value to Russia. However, it is also true that Putin was also likely motivated to prevent Russians from getting any ideas about overthrowing his regime.
Following Putin’s invasion of Crimea the US and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia. As a result the ruble plummeted, inflation rose and counter sanctions on imports caused food prices to skyrocket. The sanctions made Russia’s economic problems worse and exacerbated Russia’s demographic problem. Russia’s population has been declining by 2 million people per year due mostly to losses of working age adults. Extreme alcoholism, violence, heroin addiction, and an out of control HIV/AIDs epidemic, have all contributed to a rapid depopulation of the country.
So to be clear, Russia is in extremely bad shape. Putin has run Russia into the ground and now he has his back against the wall. His primary objectives are likely weakening NATO, getting the US and EU to lift sanctions, and being allowed to retake former Soviet states such as the Ukraine and the Baltic States. Since Trump was elected Putin has been testing NATO. He moved missile systems into the Baltics and onto disputed islands north of Japan; he made a show of conducting troop movements along Russia’s borders near the Ukraine, the Baltics and the Arctic; and he intensifying attacks on Aleppo (which some analysts believe is a way to make the refuge situation worse so the EU will back down on sanctions).
In saying that he wouldn’t defend member nations Trump undermined NATO. I can see how that benefits Putin but I really have no idea how it benefits America. Russia is not a rival superpower, it has a GDP less than Canada’s and has completely squandered it’s human and natural resources. America doesn't have to play nice with Russia because Russia is not in our league. Why would Trump let a broke down Russia try and strong arm America? I’m guessing the question I should probably be asking is what’s in it for him?