At least Grozny seems reasonably stable (at the moment), as far as I know anyway. — jorndoe
:up:So Putin bothers me as another sign that the wheels are coming off. — Srap Tasmaner
I'm not blind to the problems of modern liberal capitalism, but at least it leaves some room to maneuver, to try and make something better. In the United States, for instance, there has always been some hypocrisy in our talk of freedom and equal rights; we all know that. But some of our talk, and our publicly stated beliefs, amounted to "fake it until you make it". — Srap Tasmaner
I’ve been bitter in commentary about Putin in recent years because I never forgot the way the West smoothed his rise, and pretends now that it didn’t.
Well, I think a certain degree of national pride or, at least, appreciation for one’s cultural heritage, isn’t a bad thing. — Apollodorus
Given a country which is going to provide massive opportunities for corruption-ridden investments, a supply of oil which can be controlled by influencing a single person, and an almost permanent bogeyman to fuel the enormous arms industry (not how many tanks to we need, how many tanks is it possible for us to need) - what sensible capitalist government, doing its job, turning its cogs, is going to remove such a component? — Isaac
The purpose of the NATO expansion was surely always about the Russian threat, no? — jamalrob
The mystery was why the U.S. — which throughout the Cold War dreamed that Russia might one day have a democratic revolution and a leader who, however haltingly, would try to make Russia into a democracy and join the West — would choose to quickly push NATO into Russia’s face when it was weak. — Tom Friedman
I think it is the beginning of a new cold war, I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. This expansion would make the Founding Fathers of this country turn over in their graves. — George Kennan
At a summit in Helsinki, Clinton promised to give Yeltsin four billion dollars in investment in 1997, as much as the U.S. had provided in the five years prior, while also dangling W.T.O. membership and other economic inducements. In return, Russia would effectively allow unencumbered NATO enlargement. Yeltsin worried that these measures could be perceived as ‘sort of a bribe,’ but, given Russia’s empty coffers and his uphill prospects for re-election, he relented.
Were any of us absolutely honest, realistic, and totally non-delusional, we'd have to consider blowing our brains out forthwith. — Bitter Crank
Russia were simply not a threat at the time of NATO expansion. They were crippled and crumbling further. — Isaac
You're saying Putin's a threat, I'm saying yes, and if we knew this all along why the hell did we treat him as if he wasn't. — Isaac
just saw a tension between that and the following:
You're saying Putin's a threat, I'm saying yes, and if we knew this all along why the hell did we treat him as if he wasn't. — Isaac — jamalrob
Well, if it's just Gotland and not Åland, I hope we do the same for you and come to help!
The unfortunate fact is that after few months, assuming the war takes so long, war in Ukraine will be "the new normal". After all, we just experienced a world wide pandemic. How scary would that have sounded before? Now it's not so scary anymore. — ssu
For you (and@Christoffer if you like) with the unique interests and distance from US//NATO you so eloquently explained, why is it so important that the US/NATO be exculpated? — Isaac
Yup. It was a self fulfilling prophecy. Treat Russia as the enemy for decades and surprise surprise, we get war. I'm putting as much blame on the US and NATO as on Putin. — Benkei
Is hiring security for your house a threat to criminals who want to break in and therefore you are also guilty if they actually attack? — Christoffer
I think the issue here is the model of NATO. Sometimes it seems to be only related towards USA. This is why some countries as Finland was sceptical about joining. We, the Western, do not have anything against the NATO but it is true they tend to use, hmm... propaganda about empowering the Western block.
As the European Commissioner Josep Borell said: "it is time to build an European army. But this principle is not necessary against NATO alliance," — javi2541997
How and when did NATO threaten Putin and Russia? — Christoffer
I personally think he felt threatened by NATO when a country close to him wants to be part of the alliance. This exactly happens with Georgia in 2008. It is true that expressly there is not a clear threat against Russia. But they feel like that because NATO is the western and for Russia these are always the enemies so they will never let satellite countries be part of it. It is sad but for Russia, countries like Ukraine or Georgia are just puppets to play with. They do not see it as sovereign states.
As we shared previously, Soviet nostalgia — javi2541997
Your demand for explicit threats is inane. — Benkei
Why did NATO expand towards Russia, as opposed to say, Iran or China? There's your answer and the implicit threat it included. — Benkei
For anyone with a modicum of knowledge about international relations this is obvious, which is why every expansion by NATO has been critised every step of the way in every Western country with independent policy institutes. — Benkei
During my studies I wrote an essay on how to create an economic interdependence between Russia and Europe ensuring lasting peace and true independence from US, creating a much safer European space than we have now. — Benkei
The US and NATO decided precisely otherwise even though there were plenty of political scientists arguing for what I did. So we should ask, what benefit is there to the US having an insecure Europe? An excuse for military bases? A continued use for NATO? — Benkei
Is hiring security for your house a threat to criminals who want to break in and therefore you are also guilty if they actually attack? — Christoffer
Once again my house invasion analogy:
Is hiring security for your house a threat to criminals who want to break in and therefore you are also guilty if they actually attack?
— Christoffer — Christoffer
"The United States and its allies should abandon their
plan to westernize Ukraine and instead aim to make it a neutral buffer" — John H. Mearsheimer
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