Russia Is a Marginal Power

Having nukes is the sole reason Russia is still relevant.

Looks like some propaganda.About nothing..

It is so funy to watch for looking for some answer concirning about some third part without even having a hear from that third part. Here is not a Debates, here is just a statement "Russia is marginal power" which all debator have to agree in different grade with.

That guy, Edward Lucas, senior editor for The Economist...It´s a total British old piece of furniture ridden with woodworms: if you listen to him he drags you into a Rhetoric net: "Name a respectable country wich actually would say good job Vladimir..." : a brazen rhetoric question who really say "If you are not against Russia, you are not 'respectable'.
Then he states the unwillingness of Russia to join organizations.....He is British! Doesn´t he know about Brexit, and all those decades trying to stop the EU from coming together and implement more common responsibilities? . A really disgusting and shameless troublemaker who loves to sow discord among others.

Reasoning: if Russia is really a marginal power, the self considered powerful countries should be making their military budgets more marginal. Why don´t they?

Hillarious. The guy just stated that Russia would never have an effect via cyber attacks on the US. I wonder if anyone uses that statement against him now.

Putinism has destroyed the future prospects of the regime. Without the legitimacy of Putin, the regime will fail. He needs a replacement.

Regardless, with the petroeconomy, it has little prospects for diversity. Too much gangsterism.

Russia punches up a lot. We, the US, don’t want to play the game because we don’t have to. We only export 5-7% of gdp. We have the best land for agriculture, the most robust economy, our demographics are spot on, we have all the super carriers in the planet, shale, I could go on for hours.

Putin wasn’t even a big deal at the KGB. Was a low level bureaucrat.

You can pity Great Britain now btw.

who wanst friends like Saudi Arabia?

Here is a glimpse into 2019
Russian economy is now a 13th largest economy.

Empty words

The Russia and China alliance are now creating new alliances to get control of ports and control the waters of the earth to control trade. They do not care about human rights of their own and other peoples - only to extend their power. Perestroika was only a face lift to the KGB system and the only religion allowed now is building nationalism. They are not the most dangerous but together with China are a communistic threat to the world. They can block trade soon and enforce embargoes on nations who do not cooperate with them- which they are already doing. They are using their manufacturing capitalism in a totalitarian way to extend their power. The Russians are extremely nationalistic (propaganda) and support their government. Since the making of this program China and Russia have been making agreements with nations in Africa and south America. They lend them money to build infrastructure and then 'take' the infrastructure (ports and airports) when the country cannot pay the loan.

Vladimir Putin is a thug and a war criminal in Syria and Ukraine and Georgia. He must go.

Russian tyranny and empire must be destroyed

Vladimir Putin is a thug and a tyrant. Russian regime must be destroyed

Russia isn't a great power nor a marginal power. It is a regional power. Russia can only project power within its neighborhood. Russia has no navy capable of combating western nations. It's economy is 13th largest in the world. Down from number 2 during the cold war. Russia is a regional power but also a declining power.

Russia is a marginal (?) power and America is a rogue state!

Yessss marginal power Insignifiant Russia who can obliterate in Atomic War all West power...Seems guilibiles .We reffer to Russia like an marginal actor on political stage Althought the Second Super power ....

Rusia Maybe is full of powerty but now in aliance with China become the Next Superpower on World.USA want to be on first place but dont tolerate anybody who can denied his global Hegemony.Who cares about Equal power on atomic chess mate.Maybe in next Tweenty years America will mantained his status Pares inter pares.....We need WW3 to ensure his Global domination? Now IT seems to aproach to India.Good move.

Russia is a doormed Bear who afraid anybody in war.Royal Sweden Republic and Monarchy of Napoleon Republic of Weimar of Adolf Hitler....

Please put Donovan as a moderator for a presidential debate in America!!!

Yes,an economy the size of NY state, and demography of decline!!

kindly input english subtitles for people cant hear but can read... thank you...

This is an absurd debate. The fact that NATO still exists and the US hasn't moved it's whole navy to the pacific, refutes the motion. The US is deploying more of its military to countering Russia than China. The rest of NATO is deploying nearly all of its military power to counter Russia and what it might do. We don't fear Russia only because we are still not enemies like we were with the Soviet Union. If relations get that bad, the 1,500 nuclear weapons it is aiming at us would be a sword of Damocles that would concern us on a daily basis like it did in the Cold War. People were not terrified during the Cuban Missile Crisis because they cared about the Soviet economy or how many friends they had.

Blind hate and disrespect for Russia
Russia is an exceptional state with all necessary human and natural resources that does not need to invade rape and plunder other nations.
God bless Russia

The FOR side should not have agreed to this debate if they didn't have arguments to support it and mentioning that ESTONIA isn't a marginal power certainly doesn't help their case - except to bury it!

Following the collapse of the USSR, Russia is indeed less important than it was in the last century and the recent rise of China means that Russia has been supplanted as a competitor to the USA, but dropping from 2nd to 3rd (or even lower) in global influence doesn't make Russia marginal.

A more interesting title for this debate would've been "Russia is a DECLINING power", or alternatively, "Russia is no longer a superpower".

As an aside, I prefer debate motions to be phrased as questions rather than statements, hence "Is Russia a marginal power?" is a better title because it's neutral and open ended.

Russia is a third rate petrol state. Their banking system is broken, their agriculture system cannot keep up with the population, and their population is about to bust the bank due to a massive decline in the birth rate after the curtain fell. Putin knows Russia is in its final days and he's trying to keep it viable. That's why he wants to expand their borders to pick up resources. In 20 years they will not be able to hang on to much of their former glory. There is two areas of concern - their pool of atomic weapons and their over eagerness to use cyber attacks on other countries for the sake of being messy.

The fourth gentleman won the debate in the first minute and a half of his presentation.

Why is the audio so awful? Other than the host, the participants are not properly mic’d. WTF… this program was planned…. LMMFAO

Without 6000 nuclear warheads, Russia is third world...

To argue in America that Russia is a major power means that you have some sympathies for Putin, and we all know by now that those sympathies are held by the right wing, partly because of Trump and partly because of the autocratic mentality that has always been part and parcel of that political orientation. Therefore, it's not surprising that two right-wingers would be arguing for the proposition even before Trump. Autocracy and fascism have always been a natural political progression for the right wing. These impulses are in their DNA. Trump's base wears T-shirts with slogans, "We'd rather be Russians than Democrats". They love Russia so much because Putin helped Trump win the election in 2016 and because the country's mostly white, racist, antisemitic, homophobic, and autocratic.

Russia is a Great Power... but is a declining Great Power it has an income percápita lower than Costa Rica or China with an economy smaller than South Korea, with a population already in decline... however still has a veto in the Security Council and thousand of nukes, and a military capable to project force in the Middle East the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.

sure?? say it today, you stupid hamburger......................

Remember when Mitt Romney was laughed at during the presidential campaign for saying Russia was the US's number one adversary in the world? Since then, confrontation with Russia has only escalated and that doesn't look so funny anymore.

Peter Hitchen's resemblance to his brother (especially in voice and way of speaking) is remarkable.

Hitchens multiple times brought up a couple contradictory statements, claiming all Russia want is to be left alone, but also acknowledging variations on they want control of territory they lost. For reference if they were able to establish some form of control over former territory, that is control over roughly double their population, how high can that number be an still be considered all you want is to be left alone.

8 yrs later russia taking on the world in ukraine war they do matter alot Ian u are sooooo wrong the audience is smarter than ian haha

By the logic of the in favor side the Soviet Union was a marginal power as well. Why because they weren't nice!

From the perspective of 2022, it seems that the negative in the deb ate prevail on whether Russia is a marginal power.

Historian Stephen Kotkin makes the observation that Russia ALWAYS aims to hit above it's weight, and very often fails to do so. That a characteristic going back centuries. In it's aim to punch above it's weight, it always chooses authoritarian rule with the aim of using state power to maximize Russian power and allow it to punch above it's weight.

That observation seemks pertinent today, with the issue in the Ukraine war being whether Russia can prevail in punching above it's weight, or whether it willo again be crushed, as has happened so many times in the past.

Certainly the Russian military, so far, has been acting like a marginal power in the Ukraine war. But that could change, as Russia has often had real military failures in initial military encounters and then come roaring back after reorganizing. That could happen again in Ukraine. Time will tell.

In any case, Russia could already claim victory in Ukraine just by going in a breaking everything in sight.

And then there is the economic sanctions ---will they prove to compel Russia to sue for peace with the West, or vice versa? Hard to tell at this point, and could still go either way in my view.

But Russia, so far, continues to occupy one sixth of the surface of the earth, and that remains significant. Hard to see that Russia can really be a marginal power while commanding that much of the strategic heartland. Indeed, if Russia is defeated militarily or economically in the Ukraine war, there is an argument for propping up Russia as a counterweight to Chinese expansion.

In short, a strong Russia is arguably essential to the West and the United States in particular. I am not at all happy that my country is fighting a war, even an economic war, in Ukraine ----that seems a long way from the North Atlantic part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. I would be even less happy with the United States trying to police the many fractious elements of central Asia should Russia be unable to do so.

I'm usually rather fond of Peter Hitchens, but his comment about Ukraine not being a real country was rather outrageous.

Russophobia is the last and only socially acceptable form of racism in the west.

A nation with 6000 nukes is not a marginal power. Stop poking the bear. There is so much beautiful life at so much risk right now. Zalensky is worse than Hitler.

Support of Kremlin are marginals---riff raff !

I think the motion is wrongly formulated. Russia is a secondary power, not a major, not a minor. The clue is that it is inbetween.

The anti-marginal group really were talking about Russian influence and nuclear power versus power in the world stage as an economic power, and making a difference in the betterment of the planet, as a whole,. This debate should’ve been bifurcated into influence and power. Taking out nuclear capability, which is a no-winner because no one dares to use it leaves influence, and if you take out influence, then Russia is a marginal power.

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Nope.

This "debate" will live in infamy as an heirloom of western stupidity, hypocrisy and inferiority apropos Russia.