It's kind of surprising that the US history of having continuously worked to overthrow a number of governments in the Americas which didn't suit their interests even needs to be reminded of, in terms of "history".
I'm sorry if you're perceiving my attempt to put Russia's reactions to the US geopolitical stances in some context, as a "tu quoque".
What Russia is doing in Ukraine is showing to the West that it can't just make inroads into Russia's backyard, and what for a long time used to be Russia's sphere of influence, with impunity. Whether that's working or not is another story. The point is, they believe that's the only course of action that they have. The alternative is to just roll over and keep giving concessions.
I'm of the opinion that Russia's place is within the EU and NATO, but I might be a minority in this regard. I'm not seeing that happening any time soon - certainly not while Putin is in office. If for anything, because the US wouldn't want that to happen. Having a second powerful player within NATO would create tensions, and power struggles. Not to mention that NATO's role, from a Russian perspective, seems to have been mainly to counter and suffocate Russia for the most part, which means it could lose its primary function if it fully allied with Russia.
As for what Putin's main rationale is and how does his mind operate, I'm afraid you're asking your questions to the wrong person. Perhaps you could try to contact some of Putin's aides and think-tank associates, or better yet Putin himself, then report back. All I'm doing here is trying to put the latest developments into some geopolitical context, to the best of my knowledge, using the information that's readily available on the Internet and in the media, or from the contacts that I've had with people from the former Soviet republics. That's all.
I appreciate that there's a kind of conventional, easy-to-understand rationale here, one that Putin can sell his people and one that cable-news commentators can recite in order to make themselves seem informed. And that may, ultimately, be just what's driving Putin.
For the sake of constructive discourse, I really, really hope this wasn't actually very subtly directed at me.
no subject
I'm sorry if you're perceiving my attempt to put Russia's reactions to the US geopolitical stances in some context, as a "tu quoque".
What Russia is doing in Ukraine is showing to the West that it can't just make inroads into Russia's backyard, and what for a long time used to be Russia's sphere of influence, with impunity. Whether that's working or not is another story. The point is, they believe that's the only course of action that they have. The alternative is to just roll over and keep giving concessions.
I'm of the opinion that Russia's place is within the EU and NATO, but I might be a minority in this regard. I'm not seeing that happening any time soon - certainly not while Putin is in office. If for anything, because the US wouldn't want that to happen. Having a second powerful player within NATO would create tensions, and power struggles. Not to mention that NATO's role, from a Russian perspective, seems to have been mainly to counter and suffocate Russia for the most part, which means it could lose its primary function if it fully allied with Russia.
As for what Putin's main rationale is and how does his mind operate, I'm afraid you're asking your questions to the wrong person. Perhaps you could try to contact some of Putin's aides and think-tank associates, or better yet Putin himself, then report back. All I'm doing here is trying to put the latest developments into some geopolitical context, to the best of my knowledge, using the information that's readily available on the Internet and in the media, or from the contacts that I've had with people from the former Soviet republics. That's all.
For the sake of constructive discourse, I really, really hope this wasn't actually very subtly directed at me.