Russia, friend of the western world

[ronaldo]

New Marshall Plan

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the West creates new plan to help the former block of the East

The former Soviet Union and Eastern European nations. Receive money and trade agreements in exchange for Russia and the rest of the Eastern bloc to join the European Union and NATO.

As for the West and East would a Marshall Plan be interresting?

We would have a Marshall plan in which not only the United States would contribute but all the West (United Kingdom, France, Reunited Germany, Italy, Canada and all of Western Europe)

Could Yugoslavia survive?

Reaction of china and india?

 

[Achaemenid Rome]

Not happening under Stalin. And France, Germany, Italy, and even the United Kingdom were too devastated from the war to be giving significant aid like the USA was.

 

[ComradeH]

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the West creates new plan to help the former block of the East

Why should they? In theory, they can fully exploit the fall to enrich themselves (as in OTL) by recruiting scientists, engineers, taking in weapons and equipment - hell, while they are/were doing so, send in some extra spies, to make sure the Russia/USSR cannot rise again.

It's something called "pragmatism in politics" - There is no eternal friend, no eternal enemy, only eternal benefits (Churchill said something like that, I was told)

 

[Workable Goblin]

Why should they?

The wheel ever turns, and who is now fallen will rise, and who is now risen will fall.

In theory, they can fully exploit the fall to enrich themselves (as in OTL) by recruiting scientists, engineers, taking in weapons and equipment - hell, while they are/were doing so, send in some extra spies, to make sure the Russia/USSR cannot rise again.

Unless they're planning on committing genocide, Russia will (eventually) become a major power again.

It's something called "pragmatism in politics" - There is no eternal friend, no eternal enemy, only eternal benefits (Churchill said something like that, I was told)

I find it curious that "pragmatism" always seems to dictate being a jerk to everyone, when there's little evidence that doing so actually works in the long-term to produce peace and good relations between countries.

Not happening under Stalin. And France, Germany, Italy, and even the United Kingdom were too devastated from the war to be giving significant aid like the USA was.

I think you mistook the OP. Ronaldo is talking about after the fall of the Soviet Union, not after World War II. The 1990s, IOW. France, Italy, and the United Kingdom were perfectly alright by that point (Germany of course had to deal with East Germany, so not so much).

 

[Achaemenid Rome]

I think you mistook the OP. Ronaldo is talking about after the fall of the Soviet Union, not after World War II. The 1990s, IOW. France, Italy, and the United Kingdom were perfectly alright by that point (Germany of course had to deal with East Germany, so not so much).

D'oh. I saw Marshall Plan and instantly thought post-WW2.

The former Soviet Union and Eastern European nations. Receive money and trade agreements in exchange for Russia and the rest of the Eastern bloc to join the European Union and NATO.

Russia joining the EU would be terrifying for everyone else in it--they would dominate all policy--and it would also be terrifying to the US because now the European Union would be a Russian controlled entity.

 

[Obergruppenführer Smith]

There needs to be some way to prevent the lost decade that the Russian Federation faced before Putin came to the throne. Not sure that just giving aid and preferable trade agreements would prevent the oligarchs from seizing assets and such.

 

[Workable Goblin]

Russia joining the EU would be terrifying for everyone else in it--they would dominate all policy--and it would also be terrifying to the US because now the European Union would be a Russian controlled entity.

They would be the largest entity in it, but I'm not sure they would dominate policy, because they're just not big enough. Russia has a population of around 150 million people, which is to say roughly equal to Germany (82 million) and France (66 million) put together. So if voting power is determined by population, Russia only has about as much power as any two of the other major powers of the EU; of course, if it's one vote per country, then they have no more (formal) power than any other country. And their economy isn't that hot, either; that might be different if they joined the EU, of course, but they actually have a smaller economy than Germany, despite the much greater population. Again, this is going to hurt their ability to influence proceedings.

On the whole, I just don't see that Russia would be a dominant player in the European Union if it joined. The most important single player, yes, but it could be checked by practically any combination of the other major players working against it.

 

[Achaemenid Rome]

They would be the largest entity in it, but I'm not sure they would dominate policy, because they're just not big enough. Russia has a population of around 150 million people, which is to say roughly equal to Germany (82 million) and France (66 million) put together. So if voting power is determined by population, Russia only has about as much power as any two of the other major powers of the EU; of course, if it's one vote per country, then they have no more (formal) power than any other country. And their economy isn't that hot, either; that might be different if they joined the EU, of course, but they actually have a smaller economy than Germany, despite the much greater population. Again, this is going to hurt their ability to influence proceedings.

On the whole, I just don't see that Russia would be a dominant player in the European Union if it joined. The most important single player, yes, but it could be checked by practically any combination of the other major players working against it.

However, they'd be the biggest petroleum exporting country in Europe, and most important energy provider for the EU specifically.

 

[Workable Goblin]

However, they'd be the biggest petroleum exporting country in Europe, and most important energy provider for the EU specifically.

Yes, but that's true when they're outside the EU, too. If anything, being in the EU would constrain their ability to do anything with that fact, because they would have to follow rules and procedures instead of only being constrained by international norms. Assuming they went along instead of fighting and getting kicked out, anyway...

 

[Asp]

Corruption would steal all the money and it would go down about as well as most USAID projects to Africa in the 1970s.

Russia wouldn't join the EU and NATO. Way too big and incompatible to meet the standards (seriously, if even Moldavia and Ukraine can't do it, Russia can't) and ruled over by an elite who want to keep things together with sheer brute force (see Chechnya) and get their power back.