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Because the sanctions against Russia went so well (Germany deindustrializing, Europe spiraling into full-blown economic crisis, Russia now self-reliant and with a newly reinvigorated and growing industrial manufacturing economy), the geniuses in Berlin and Brussels are preparing to sanction the central economic engine of the world, an economy at least ten times the size Russia's and upon which they themselves are even more dependent, at a time when Germany and Europe are maximally uncompetitive.
Yes they don’t have to maintain a internal base of power they nourish themselves with, their base of power is in Washington and the IMF.