gipper
Diamond Member
- Jan 8, 2011
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- #41
I think you’re missing the forest for the trees.Actually, Zelensky could not have “easily avoided war.” By the time of his election — as one promising and seeking better relations with Russia after Poroshenko’s rightwing pro-Western government proved unpopular — it would have been almost impossible for him to adhere to Minsk2 or even abstractly recognize “Crimea’s right to self-determination” and still remain in power. Indeed, the logic of events and power of hard nationalists and Banderite elements (who opposed all compromise) meant that he could not backtrack. The consensus U.S. foreign policy, embodied by people neo-con like Victoria Nuland, and endorsed by Biden/Clinton etc, of course also utterly limited his room to maneuver.
Putin himself was a prisoner of his own authoritarian ultra-nationalist ideology and propaganda. He acted irrationally and fell into the Western trap, dreaming that shear military power and brutality could win out in this instance. Now, if he is not overthrown from within his own police and security state apparatus, Russia’s people will suffer terribly.
I expect Belarus will probably eventually be “liberated.” The West and its Wall Street version of democracy is winning. Autocracy is losing. But the threat of war, nuclear war, remains real, even if the far-flung Russian state is torn to pieces.
Gripper, your extreme libertarian views and hostility to the U.S. “Establishment” are not helping you to see reality here. Theorists like Mearsheimer (so-called “offensive realists”) can sometimes be helpful in analyzing real geo-politics, but of course they also are not the arbiters of events. Russia’s fundamental situation makes it uniquely unstable as a “great power.”
Numerous experts have warned against expanding NATO eastward. Many have stated Ukraine mustn’t be allowed in, since it is in Russia’s sphere of influence. These experts warned war might result, if NATO accepted Ukraine. They were right, but you won’t find the corporate media telling Americans this.
Had Z sought dialogue and compromise with Russia, which condidering Putin’s multiple statements about his red line on Ukraine is an intelligent approach, since war with Russia would be terribly destructive for his country. Z chose war.
At no time have I supported Putin’s invasion. His warring actions are wrong, just as the US government’s multiple wars are wrong.
But unlike you, I can see the entire forest.