Russia and Iran Go Bust

October 7, 2024

Russia and Iran perpetrated the October 7 massacre, which was also Putin’s birthday. Now on its anniversary, they hurtle toward financial ruin, a welcome development but small comfort to their millions of victims in Israel, Ukraine, and elsewhere. However, their financial troubles will end their atrocities sooner rather than later. This is inevitable. Both are “gasoline stations masquerading as countries” with immature economies run by murderous regimes dependent on fossil fuel exports, now heavily sanctioned. They cannot sustain their warmongering indefinitely but increase attacks and threats to project durability and power. They threaten escalation but are self-destructive and must be sped on their way. An intelligence report at a recent European security conference revealed that the Kremlin realizes it must end the war in 2025 for economic reasons. “The financial, technological, and demographic hurdles facing the Russian economy are more severe than is commonly understood,” wrote economist Anders Aslund. “Contrary to what the Kremlin would like others to believe, time is not on Russia’s side.”