@awemany looks promising for a theory.
For Bitcoin to succeed on the scale you referring too it's on-chain scaling and global access to the benefits of an immutable blockchain that will enable it. Thinking of bitcoin as a wealth distribution virus it has more growth potential in countries with citizens with low debt. its worth keeping in mind that bitcoin will cause destructive fiat inflation if adopted on any scale so it's also an end game play.
A poison pill has lots of interpretations, however I don't doubt segwit is such a pill.
The poison pill being, additional scripting and layer 2 services enabled by segwit that in time could be used to undermine bitcoin's sound money principals and allow bitcoin substitutes backed by limited access to the bitcoin blockchain to thrive. The ultimate kill switch being layer 2 service providers, essentially today's banking layer, being in control of on-chain transaction fees and indirectly bitcoin security.
Russia China relations and their respective investments in gold would factor into that theory too. Keeping my skeptic black hat on I would imagine that bitcoin is still a pipe dream and they are hedging on gold. Until bitcoin comes into the equation I'd would expect a stale mate on blockchain growth and segwits for some time to come.
Should demand grow it may well be that China is the trigger for the next rally, given their lower per-capita debt to GDP.
If we resort back to exponential price growth in bitcoin with limited transaction volume I'd expect China and the US to bring the situation to a head and strike a deal that does not impact Russia in any way. I'd expect a block size increase timed with huge bitcoin price growth and an increase in contention over something the magnitude over who controls the South China Seas. Conversely resolving a conflict the magnitude of who controls the South China Seas would be closely timed with segwit activation.
Your theory would also possibly explain Russia's hot flashes with bitcoin's legality in the region, those with political influence aligned with the China's Gold Play and the US, trying to curb momentum either way for a multitude of reasons.
I'd also imagine full engagement in an arms race between Russia and the US to be tethered to the failed hard fork block limit increase and segwit activation, and such a race to be quenched by the possibility of global bitcoin adoption with on chain scaling.