Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing Putin has successfully mobilized nationalist passions from the Great Patriotic War and deployed them into a failing war. It’s his only notable success. The ideological monolith, built on Stalingrad and Berlin and used for decades to awe the public, revitalized a hapless army and buoyed national support. The Read More …
Brian M Downing China will one day have the strongest economy in the world. But without a powerful, aligned Russia, it can only be a regional military power. No Russian ally, no Chinese preeminence. Everyone’s watching Putin’s offensive which he believes will turn the tide. China is watching more keenly Read More …
Brian M Downing China and Russia, though enemies for centuries, have aligned to weaken the West and create a new world order dominated from Beijing and Moscow. Putin discussed the Ukraine war with his partner not long before he crossed the border a year ago. Xi is the senior partner, Read More …
Brian M Downing The view here has been that longstanding flaws and high casualties have rendered the Russian army incapable of meaningful offensive operations. Undaunted, Moscow has rallied the nation with WW2 analogies, drafted hundreds of thousands of men, and positioned them for attack. A winter offensive is underway, seeking Read More …
Brian M Downing The Ukraine war has gone badly for Russia. This isn’t widely admitted in Moscow, especially in the upper echelons. Russia’s response hasn’t been to reform its inept army, as did Prussia amid the Napoleonic wars and Japan against western imperialism. Putin et al aren’t looking to the Read More …
Brian M Downing Wars end in different ways, though some go on and on. After World War Two both Germany and Japan were completely defeated by victorious armies. Their armies were disbanded, leaders put on trial, and political systems fundamentally changed. That will not happen in the Russian war on Read More …
Brian M Downing Putin’s war is in the seventh month. Offensives fail. Casualties mount. Operations go nowhere. Depleted BTGs have to be combined to hold up effectiveness. Russia is facing a manpower problem. It has to find recruits, train and motivate them, and integrate them into units along the sprawling Read More …
Brian M Downing Tides turn in wars. Germans know that well. Russians should. Russia began the Ukraine war with seemingly unstoppable drives from north, south, and east. Ukraine pushed them Russia back from Kyiv and Kharkiv. Russia began its eastern offensive and pushed into Luhansk. A decisive breakthrough loomed Read More …
Brian M Downing Ties between Moscow and Damascus go back to the early Cold War. The Soviet Union sought to expand its power, and weaken the US’s, by backing secular states such as Syria and Egypt. It sold them military equipment, built infrastructure, and backed them in wars against Read More …
Brian M Downing European wars used to spread. The Dutch revolt against Spain (1568-1648) was fought in the Low Countries, Caribbean, Mediterranean, South America, and Southeast Asia. Henry Adams noted a skirmish between Britain and France in the American backwoods led to the Seven Years War, which devastated the continent. Read More …