Russia's economy is a one trick pony and reality has finally hit the fan.
Russia is like a guy high on dope who thinks he's superman and that he can fly. In truth they are a superpower on the same level that their Rouble (or rather Rubble) is a global super-currency.
Their economy is the size of Italy, that's it. But compared to Italy, the Russian economy is so primitive it cannot even be compared like-for-like.
So what's all this hype about Russia being strong and all? Well, in fact there is no such hype. Russia is a nation that feeds itself on internal propaganda - they have no intent of anyone else believing their fairytales of how strong & powerful they are. All they want is for their own people to be fed with such stories. Hence, all the circus acts they do are merely staged for their own people, for their own internal reasons. That is what keeps them going internally.
Now the West has been happy to keep them weak while allowing them to portray themselves back home as a serious and strong player in the world, and everything has worked until recently those up top have started getting high on their own propaganda. Now they've stepped out of line, violated the international status quo and brought a lot of unnecessary attention upon themselves for all the wrong reasons.
For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction, but with Russia the reaction needs to be much stronger. That is the only way to beat any sense into their minds, because they themselves do not comprehend any other method of action. Now the West is patient and has no need to play its own propaganda game, so this is a game of smiling at the table whilst delivering very painful and hard blows under it. And Russia is getting hit hard as we speak.
The country is in financial meltdown, the currency is on the verge of a collapse and any time now we'll see a new freefall of currency rates against the USD/EUR, there is no financing available for any of its projects. And best of all Russia is now pinned down and in a situation where they are stuck with no feasible means of escape.
Russia is so weak that the only sanctions it tried to implement ended up with them shooting themselves in the foot, with food costs spiralling out of control, which in turn will see inflation shoot up. So much for Russia's answer after all those threats (as mentioned, nothing more than propaganda for their own people). And the West hasn't even broken a sweat yet, this is only the beginning of sanctions. If the US and the EU strike a free trade agreement, gas/oil will be freely traded between the two. If a decision is made to exclude Russia from the SWIFT system, its finances today will look like Eldorado compared to what they will look like tomorrow.
Time will tell, but right now I foresee low oil/gas prices for many years to come, and Russia stuck in a headlock that it cannot get out of. Double-bonus on all accounts, let's keep things this way.
