A short practical guide to efficiently annexing a neighboring territory

Step 1: Develop an economy based on energy exports.

Step 2: Spend heavily on the military.

Step 3: Use propaganda to develop cult like loyalty.

Step 4: Extend executive powers to control the judiciary.

Step 5: Buy foreign leader of target country.

Step 6: Wait for foreign leader to be overthrown by disgruntled population.

Step 7: Conduct massive military deployment under the guise of an exercise along the border of neighboring territory.

Step 8: Exploit political turmoil by invading neighboring territory with masked soldiers who bear no identifying markings and instruct these soldiers to pretend they are locals, giving you the opportunity to disown the initiative and pull back if the inhabitants offer serious resistance.

Step 9: Surround with overpowering numbers the foreign territory’s military installations and government buildings.

Step 10: Hold a bogus referendum under the watchful eye of your masked and intimidating military personnel.

Step 11: Unilaterally proclaim the constitutional incorporation of the newly acquired territory into your federation.

Step 12: Laugh at the insignificant response of disapproving nations because of their dependency on your oil exports (Step 1) and the overall weakness of their economies following a global economic crisis that was brought about by the poor financial regulation of your old nemesis.

Step 13: Begin ethnic cleansing to polarize the population of the newly annexed territory and create a diversion to freely expropriate land without much resistance.

Step 14: Share the spoils of your takeover and expropriation with your corrupt buddies.

Step 15: Laugh some more at how clever you are.

Step 16 (optional): Triumphantly ride horse shirtless through appropriated countryside.

Putinception

Why this matters

Canada and Russia are in a land dispute over the resource-rich Arctic Circle. Russia has been conducting a military build-up in the North claiming to be tightening security along its northern border.

The Ukrainian military was over 1,000,000 strong while Canada has 60,000 trained men and women in uniform. Russia has been condemned for its recent actions, but scoffs at the sanctions that have been imposed because they have no bite. With such a weak international response to Putin’s land grab, how does one discourage a similar unilateral declaration of Russian sovereignty over the much more profitable Arctic territories?