They will never be able to maintain their hegemony even with the entirety of Ukraine's mineral resources. It's too late.
It's a pathetic, greed driven existence. Watching them grasp for their power and wealth as it ebbs away would be very entertaining if it didn't threaten to take us all down with them
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
By the way, just visited one of my favourite blogs and was planning to share here what is IMO a brilliant overview by its owner, Bruce Charlton (can be read here now) and, what I occasionally do, checked a few random past posts by him, this time I picked 2010, and here you go. Some call it a "coincidence".
"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad" - true, but how?
I am thinking, here, about the Western elites.
That they are mad is clear, that they are en route to utter destruction I believe.
That is where the 'madness' comes in.
That 'the gods' wish to extirpate the Western elites seems obvious, and the reasons why are also obvious; but for the requisite irreversible annihilation certainly to happen requires that the elites become insane - not merely in losing their spontaneous sense of self-preservation, but actively willing self-annihilation.
Otherwise, sans lunacy, a sane elite would pull-back just enough to avert nemesis, and survive to wreak further havoc.
Since the gods want to ensure this does not happen, they first ensure that the elite are mad.