CHAPTER 653: CHAPTER 314: POLARIZATION IN 1985 (4K)_2

This method, when employed, is quite ruthless indeed.

The Blue Star viewers in the livestream room are pondering.

Meanwhile, Yu Feng continues:

"Of course."

"This year, it wasn’t just about this one thing."

"On the NATO side, they ’organized’ an exercise, a simulation of nuclear strikes."

"That’s right."

"It’s the ’misjudgment’ that just led to the Soviet Union nationwide alert at its highest level, only to find out in the end that it was just an exercise on the other side."

"This incident also exposed many weaknesses of the Soviet Union."

"It’s like the United States tricked the Soviet Union into using its big move."

"This...."

"There’s no way to describe it."

The United States’ moves are both ruthless and precise.

Not only did they lure the Soviet Union into an arms race when its economy was on the brink of collapse, but they also clearly identified the disarray within the Soviet Union’s command system through an exercise.

An exercise that triggered the highest national alert.

This kind of consumption is no small matter.

Yet it didn’t even lead to a conflict, only to realize later that they had been fooled.

It’s a massive blow to the Soviet Union’s prestige and the domestic population’s trust in it.

Yu Feng continues to flip through the documents:

"Next is the year 1984."

"This year."

"As the Soviet Union’s economic deterioration persisted, the United States, through previous policies, had achieved economic revival, with a GDP growth of 7.2% that year."

"Now."

"They have even more time and money to exhaust the Soviet Union."

Upon hearing this.

The Blue Star viewers in the livestream room couldn’t help but nod.

Indeed.

Previously, the United States was also in an economic decline, but without the drag of foreign wars, its situation was much better than the Soviet Union’s.

After all, everyone was experiencing negative growth, but yours was even more negative than mine, so let’s see who dies first.

But now.

The US economy is not only no longer in negative growth but has grown by 7.2%.

It has already met the standards of economic recovery.

It means that now only the Soviet Union, its old rival, is continuously pouring military spending into an expanding vicious cycle where the military-industrial GDP and output percentages keep increasing.

The United States has entirely moved past that.

It has already grown.

Even if it drops a bit, there’s nothing to fear.

Because it maintains stability.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union continues to decline.

The Blue Star viewers are getting a headache from watching.

The Soviet Union’s luck is like choking on cold water.... Who would’ve thought the US would suddenly see an economic revival and GDP growth.

Yu Feng looks at the documents and says:

"This year."

"The United States hosted the Olympics."

"But the Soviet Union, citing security concerns, did not attend."

"The Olympics turned into a US propaganda event."

"The US seized the opportunity provided by this globally watched event to showcase the prosperity following economic recovery, while promoting the values of freedom to people and tourists worldwide."

"This set of values in the United States, embracing freedom, equality, and multiculturalism."

"In that era."

"Caused a considerable stir and led many to pursue ’freedom’ by heading to the United States."

"Thinking about it, it is understandable."

"After all, in the world at that time."

"Many countries had not truly been liberated, and these values were impactful for foreign athletes and tourists during the Olympics."

"They had never felt such awe."

"Could it really be like this?"

"This was likely the most common thought among foreign tourists and athletes at the time."

"Of course."

"This wave didn’t start here."

"But its spread was closely related to this Olympics."

"Then comes 1985."

Yu Feng flips through the documents and says:

"This year, the leader whose policies brought economic revival to the United States won the election and successfully secured a re-election."

"After that."

"After re-election, they carried out a ’containment’ strategy against the Soviet Union."

"They secretly funded the ’Holy Warriors’ in the Afghanistan Federation."

"There might have been weapons, but probably not much."

"Because it was covert aid, designed to make things difficult for the Soviet Union."

"So, it couldn’t be done openly."

"Moreover, transporting weapons would be too conspicuous and easy to investigate."

"It’s better to provide direct financial support."

"Anyway, now that the US economy has revived, financial support is no big deal."

"On the contrary."

"If a bit of financial support could give the Soviet Union great trouble, the United States would greatly benefit."

After all, for the United States, a few hundred million dollars in support is nothing.

Yet this support enables the ’Holy Warriors’ in Afghanistan Federation to purchase numerous arms, causing more significant casualties for the Soviet Union.

These casualties are reflected domestically within the Soviet Union, leading to more pressure.

For the United States, it’s extremely worthwhile.

Yu Feng checks the documents and says:

"Next comes technological development."

"In this year."

"The US technological dominance has basically been established."

"Its domestic computers have already surpassed those of the Soviet Union by two generations."

"Being two generations behind in computers."

"Brings impacts in all aspects. Of course.... if the Soviet Union also had scientists from the Republic, where human brains are more powerful than computers, I’ll just keep quiet."

"However, this technological gap is real and tangible."

"There’s truly no solution."

"Let’s look at the overall situation of the United States over the recent years."

"Firstly in finance, the increase in USD interest rates combined with economic sanctions against the Soviet Union has in a few short years emptied the Soviet Union’s foreign reserves."

"Additionally, in media, the Russian-speaking audience of Voice of America reached 30 million."

"Note."

"The Soviet Union at this time had about 280 million people."

"And Voice of America had 30 million listeners, meaning 1 out of every 9 Soviet citizens listened to it."

"This undermines the foundation of the Soviet Union."

"As mentioned before."

"The values promoted by the United States, such as ’freedom’, ’equality’, ’inclusivity’, and ’diversity’, are very impactful to people from any part of the world at that time."

"So the situation for the Soviet Union was really...."

Upon hearing this.

The Blue Star viewers in the livestream room felt chills down their spine reflecting on this.

Because they’re putting themselves into the shoes of the Soviet Union.

They don’t know what to do either.

Externally.

There’s the United States eagerly plotting a space race. If you don’t research it, you’ll fall behind; if you do, you’ll have to increase military spending.

Meanwhile, domestically, citizens have long been dissatisfied due to ongoing food and economic crises, and the Eastern European countries internally were already causing turmoil at this time.

Then there’s the US propaganda broadcast, promoting its ’freedom’ values, with 30 million listeners in the Soviet Union.

In this situation.

Even if you visualize it through data, as if playing a game to save this Federation, Blue Star players are at a loss because if quantified through data, you’ll find.

The entire Federation is showing negative signs all over.

All metrics are steadily declining, with nothing showing an increase.

It’s like having a dashboard but being unable to operate it.

Anyhow, the Blue Star players can’t figure out how to save the Soviet Union, though they might still hang on for a bit more since it only collapsed by 1991.

Let’s see what the Soviet Union can pull off in the coming years.

Yu Feng here concludes with an analysis and summary of the United States’ situation over the years, forming a stark contrast with the Soviet Union. Yu Feng sets aside the documents on the United States:

"Alright, next it’s the Republic’s turn."