Why would Soviet statistics suddenly become credible and trustworthy when it comes to grain and oil production?
The entire premise seems flawed.
It seems unlikely that the Soviets would manipulate their statistics in a way that makes them look politically "worse", i.e. if the data are false then imports are likely to be higher, and exports lower than reported which would tend to support the narrative.
There's also the issue that imports and exports involve external counterparties. Of course, you can still fudge your numbers but this will create inconsistencies vs the official statistics of other countries.
The Politburo wouldn’t want to manipulate it that way.
But thousands upon thousands of farm committees would definitely have tried to under declare how much grain they made, keeping some extra to barter as needed, and also to make it easier to hit targets next year.
2007, 8 pages
The mention of the KGB considering supporting terrorists to prop up oil prices is interesting to me. If the Russian state today was ever truly facing a economic crisis, it seems as though this would be very easy for Putin to do. He came to power based on a false flag terrorism incident so it's definitely in his playbook.
The US blew up Nordstream via their Ukraine proxy, but „what if Putin hypothetically did this“.
I don't think that one should compare terrorist attacks with destruction of infrastructure during war. Especially a defensive war.
> The US blew up Nordstream
Citation needed.
> „what if Putin hypothetically did this“
GP didn't say that.
> Especially a defensive war.
You surely mean Russia defending itself against NATO eastwards expansion?
No, I didn't mean that. Clearly you have a problem with understanding what you read as demonstrated with your earlier post. I also see that you are dropping your claims as soon as you are called on them... either an idiot or troll, not worth the time either way.
I think you are upset at an opinion that goes contrary to a world view that you have unfortunately made part of your identity, and now you‘re mad about it.
This is the wrong website for writing with this tone.
I‘m an idealist, I think things can be changed for the better.
I'm not questioning your belief, just pointing out that this website has higher standards for discussion than Reddit.
That was the case maybe 10-15 years ago, nowadays it is asymptotically approaching Reddit.