View Single Post
  #12  
Old Posted Jan 5, 2019, 5:30 PM
Nouvellecosse's Avatar
Nouvellecosse Nouvellecosse is online now
Volatile Pacivist
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 9,078
Even if the crossing itself could be built for 20 billion, that obviously doesn't include the upgraded infrastructure connecting the crossing to major population centres on either side. The diagram in post 4 shows a maglev train, but it would cost more than 20 billion just to build a maglev from a population centre like Edmonton or Vancouver to the Bering Strait and even more to population centres on the other side. If Russia is willing to invest just as much of the funding as the West and it had just as great of importance to them economically then it might be worth considering, but otherwise it would just be a bargaining chip they'd use to manipulate us. We'd have invested all those billions in construction and planned for all those billions in trade and they'd have complete control over how / when / if we'd have any ability to use it. I don't see how that would lead to peace with Russia. If anything it could lead to greater conflict just as easily. Unless by peace you mean forcing the West to adopt Trump-style capitulation and going along with whatever Putin wants.

Requiring Russia to make an equal investment might work better, but their economy is smaller than Canada's despite having four times the population to support, so I'm not sure they can afford much.
__________________
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
Don't ask people not to debate a topic. Just stop making debatable assertions. Problem solved.
Reply With Quote