Yes. I'm aware of the agreement Bush Sr.(???) made after the fall of the Berlin wall to not expand NATO "one inch farther" to the east. Then, during the Clinton administration(I think???) that promise/agreement was broken.
— creativesoul
Correct. — Apollodorus
...it can easily become largely self-sufficient (which is actually a good thing for its economy)... — Apollodorus
You and I clearly have very very different standards for how to treat others, enemies notwithstanding. As I said earlier, your position is based upon an emaciated set of morals. Specifically, how to treat others. — creativesoul
I semi-seriously wonder if the soul of Putin died some decades ago and his body taken over by the malevolent spirit which also animated Josef Stalin, which lurks around the Kremlin waiting for some potential body to inhabit. After all, Putin's high- school teacher couldn't remember Vlad, he was such a colorless and unexceptional pupil. So now he's just become a carrier for that same industrial-scale cruelty and malevolence that his predecessor exhibited. — Wayfarer
...the West must acknowledge its share of responsibility for the conflict and work toward ending the conflict as soon as possible and in a way that takes Russia’s interests and concerns into consideration. In fact, IMO, it has a moral obligation to do so. — Apollodorus
You and I clearly have very very different standards for how to treat others, enemies notwithstanding. As I said earlier, your position is based upon an emaciated set of morals. Specifically, how to treat others.
— creativesoul
Because believing that one should not approach others in bad faith is ... just egregious!!!!!! Emaciated!!!! — baker
It's emaciated to believe that one cannot peacefully coexist with their enemies. — creativesoul
give Tibet back to the Tibetans, Cyprus back to the Cypriots, and Kurdistan back to the Kurds, — Apollodorus
'm saddened to say that I find the claim that US foreign policies are suspect to be a generally well founded one. However, that fact(and claims about the fact) could also be used as a means to attempt to justify unacceptable aggression for less than honorable aims, and that is what I believe is currently happening. — creativesoul
And this coming from a Buddhist. — baker
Do you trust that Putin is an honest goodwilled actor in all this? Does the assassination of his political enemies influence your view? — creativesoul
What would you suggest be necessarily included for a long lasting treaty between Ukraine and Russia? — creativesoul
I agree with that. And I would add give back Palestine to the Palestinians, Russia to the Russians, and Ukraine to the Ukrainians. — Olivier5
Do you think the invasion of Poland by Hitler and Stalin was legitimate too? — Olivier5
A major rebellion of self-governed Ukrainian Cossacks inhabiting south-eastern borderlands of the [Polish-Lithuanian] Commonwealth rioted against Polish and Catholic oppression of Orthodox Ukraine in 1648, in what came to be known as the Khmelnytsky Uprising. It resulted in a Ukrainian request, under the terms of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, for protection by the Russian Tsar. In 1651, in the face of a growing threat from Poland, [Ukrainian military commander] Khmelnytsky asked the Tsar to incorporate Ukraine as an autonomous duchy under Russian protection. – Wikipedia
It's narcissistic to unilaterally declare someone one's enemy. It's an act of bad faith. Someone isn't your enemy just because you call them that.
"Peacefully coexisting with your enemies" is narcissistic, patronizing, Western Christian nonsense. — baker
Do you trust that Putin is an honest goodwilled actor in all this? Does the assassination of his political enemies influence your view?
— creativesoul
That's just rhetorical nonsense, isn't it? Presumably, by "goodwilled actor" you mean someone that sucks up to Washington and Wall Street?! — Apollodorus
So, what you're saying is that it's OK for America to pursue a policy of assassination of political opponents, but not for Russia! — Apollodorus
Does the assassination of Putin's political opponents(who are Russian citizens) influence your view? — creativesoul
1. You may "agree" with that for rhetorical purposes. But you aren't doing it!!! — Apollodorus
2. By all means, give Ukraine to the Ukrainians. But not to NATO and America. And not Crimea and the ethnic-Russian areas.
Again, you're exposing your duplicity and ignorance of history. — Apollodorus
Again the NATO and Nazi things show to be partial rationales (at best), excuses. — jorndoe
The Germans were encircled on all sides by France, Russia, and the British Empire. Stalin had started war preparations against Germany back in 1926, long before Hitler came to power. Stalin's Communist International (COMINTERN) aimed to create a Soviet-controlled United States of Europe. Invading Poland was the logical step toward invading Russia in a defensive war. — Apollodorus
What's clearly needed is the much more firm, down-to-earth explanation that he's been possessed by the ghost of a long dead dictator. Much more reasonable. — Isaac
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.