Battlegrounds

by H.R. McMaster

Russia does not have the power to compete directly with the United States and its allies in Europe and Asia. By all measures, the combined economies of the United States and European nations dwarf Russia’s economy. The European Union and the United States had a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $36.5 trillion in 2017; Russia’s GDP was a meager $1.5 trillion. Russia’s GDP per capita in 2017 was approximately $10,750, roughly one sixth of the U.S. GDP per capita and ranking below far less powerful countries such as Chile, Hungary, and Uruguay. Russia’s economy is also woefully undiversified, with oil and gas products comprising 59 percent of all exports, leaving it vulnerable to shifting oil prices in a year that saw a 48.1 percent decline in crude oil prices.