'Some of the technologists at the meeting of the International Standards Organization were surprised when they learned that the head of the Russian delegation, Grigory Marshalko, worked for the F.S.B., the intelligence agency that is the successor to the K.G.B.
They were even more surprised when they asked the F.S.B. agent why the Russians were devoting such resources to the blockchain standards.
In Russia everything is controlled and manipulated by FSB - this is not a normal country, Putin is former FSP officer after all and at this point, he is basically a dictator.
There is no real political class in Russia - you either are part of the system or you are assassinated if you know too much.
“Look, the internet belongs to the Americans — but blockchain will belong to us,”'
To me at least this seems a tad silly. 'Blockchain' is so fluid that I don't see how anyone or anywhere can ever stake a permanent claim to anything.
What form would a country's attempt to dominate look like?
You are right here, blockchain is not something which will give you dominance it is a new technology but you can't win a war with it or dominate a war.
And somehow I doubt that Russia will create the most successful cryptocurrency in the world and will control its blockchain...