It's been more than two months since Russia invaded Ukraine (February 24). We've learned enough to be able to predict what will happen next and what the geo-political consequences will be.
1.Russia will lose the war: At the beginning of the invasion, most observers believed that Russia would overwhelm Ukraine. That didn't happen and, as time passes, it seems more unlikely to happen. The conflict may drag out but eventually, Russia will lose.
There are multiple reasons why Russia has performed so poorly. The first is that the Ukrainians have out-fought the Russians; the Ukrainians are highly motivated and the Russians are not. The second is that the Russia military has been "hollowed out" because Russia is a kleptocracy and Putin and his cronies have siphoned funds, that should have gone to defense, for their own purposes. In all facets of the Russian invasion we see indications that the invasion was underfunded, and terribly managed.
Russian soldiers are poorly trained. There is inadequate communication between front-line troops and battlefield commanders. The Russian generals have made bad tactical decisions; for example to invade the Donbas region in the spring while the ground is very wet. The Russian supply infrastructure is inadequate. Russians seemingly have no capability of repairing vehicles that break down in the field. Because of the EU sanctions, Russia cannot get critical parts it needs to repair or replace its equipment. (While Russia has shown the capability to build prototypes of advanced weapons, they cannot manufacture these.)
The Russian military is a mess. Russian military power was over-rated.
2. Russians soldiers have committed atrocities. It's one thing to be incompetent and quite another thing to be a brutal loser. Russia's conduct of the war has outraged the western world. Russian troops have no respect for civilized norms.
3. Ukraine will win the war, but at a terrible cost. The war will end when Russia either runs out of money or has lost so much equipment it will be unable to maintain its lines. Then the Russians will withdraw, looting and burning everything in their path.
Most likely, Russians will retreat to the previous Ukraine border; they will cede Donbas but there will be nothing left of it. Russia will pay no reparations. (The fate of Crimea remains to be determined.)
4. Sanctions will continue. This isn't a war that will be ended with a peace conference where dignitaries sign agreements. Russia will slink back to its den. The west will be outraged by Russia's conduct. Putin will continue to threaten us. (How does it all end? "Not with a bang, but a whimper.")
Russia will be isolated from the western world. "Normal" relations will not resume until Putin is out of power.
5. Russia will lash out. Since the war began we've been expecting Russia to do something to hurt NATO countries -- such as arrange for Marine Le Pen to become president of France. The most likely possibility is cyber warfare. A recent "Sixty Minutes" segment explored this possibility. ( Click Here) One of the presenters observed: "The reality is that [The United States has] way too many targets. If you look particularly in our energy sector, you have regional utilities. You have minor energy processing companies, storage companies, pipeline companies. And make no mistake, Bill. The cyber actors that [Russia has] are top notch. And they've demonstrated that time and time again."
Russia will continue to interfere in US Politics. (Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Rand Paul...)
To say the least, this is a dangerous period. If, as i expect, Russia eventually retreats to the previous Ukraine border, Russian forces will likely use heinous weapons to render the Donbas landscape unusable.
6. Germany is particularly vulnerable. German has taken steps to aid Ukraine but not to the extent that the other major NATO members have. That's because Germany gets 34 percent of it gas, 32 percent of its oil, and 43 percent of its coal from Russia.
If Russia loses, as we expect, it's reasonable to expect NATO members to suffer for this; of course, Russia would need to find a big customer to replace the revenue. The Guardian observes that Germany is at the edge of recession. (Click Here)
7. Russia is vulnerable to China. In a recent Renew Democracy podcast (Click Here ), Tom Tugendhat was interviewed; he's a member of the British Parliament and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He observed that it's not just Russia's reputation that's been damaged by their poor performance in Ukraine. Tugendhat noted that to resupply troops killed or injured in Ukraine, Russia has been forced to withdraw troops from their eastern provinces.
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