WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE... (AND IT'S ABOUT TO ESCALATE)
a bit of a push wearing the camo jacket in mid ( UK ) summer , but yes we have been in trouble for a while
well the war would be a timely distraction from crashing economies , food and energy shortages etc etc etc
( and a GREAT reason to delay servicing debt loads )
Well they have lost their chance forever, Bernie has stated he won't be running in 2024.i bet those ardent Leftists regret not rigging the election for Bernie ( Sanders ) now
am not saying he would have been the solution , but certainly a better option in the USA 2022
Today's Russia, once more the strongest nation in Europe and yet weaker than its collective enemies, calls to mind the turn-of-the-century German Empire, which Henry Kissinger described as "too big for Europe, but too small for the world." Now, as then, a rising power, propelled by nationalism, is seeking to revise the European order. Now, as then, it believes that through superior cunning, and perhaps even by proving its might, it can force a larger role for itself. Now, as then, the drift toward war is gradual and easy to miss — which is exactly what makes it so dangerous.
Putin's Russia is weak. It can no longer stand toe to toe with the US. It no longer has Europe divided in a stalemate; rather, it sees the continent as dominated by an ever-encroaching anti-Russian alliance. In the Russian view, the country's weakness leaves it at imminent risk, vulnerable to a hostile West bent on subjugating or outright destroying Russia as it did to Iraq and Libya.
This is made more urgent for Putin by his political problems at home.
Putin's answer has been to assert Russian power beyond its actual strength — and, in the process, to recast himself as a national hero guarding against foreign enemies. Without a world-power-class military or economy at his disposal, he is instead wielding confusion and uncertainty — which Soviet leaders rightly avoided as existential dangers — as weapons against the West.
Unable to overtly control Eastern Europe, he has fomented risks and crises there, sponsoring separatists in Ukraine and conducting dangerous military activity along NATO airspace and coastal borders, giving Russia more leverage there. Reasserting a Russian sphere of influence over Eastern Europe, he apparently believes, will finally give Russia security from the hostile West — and make Russia a great power once more.
Knowing his military is outmatched against the Americans, he is blurring the distinction between war and peace, deploying tactics that exist in, and thus widen, the gray between: militia violence, propaganda, cyberattacks, under a new rubric the Russian military sometimes calls "hybrid war."
Unable to cross America's red lines, Putin is doing his best to muddy them — and, to deter the Americans, muddying his own. Turning otherwise routine diplomatic and military incidents into games of high-stakes chicken favors Russia, he believes, as the West will ultimately yield to his superior will.
To solve the problem of Russia's conventional military weakness, he has dramatically lowered the threshold for when he would use nuclear weapons, hoping to terrify the West such that it will bend to avoid conflict. In public speeches, over and over, he references those weapons and his willingness to use them. He has enshrined, in Russia's official nuclear doctrine, a dangerous idea no Soviet leader ever adopted: that a nuclear war could be winnable.
In early April, for example, a Russian fighter jet crossed into the Baltic Sea and "buzzed" a US military plane, missing it by only 20 feet. It was one of several recent near-misses that, according to a think tank called the European Leadership Institute, have had a "high probability of causing casualties or a direct military confrontation between Russia and Western states."
Meanwhile, Russia has been flying its nuclear-capable strategic bombers along NATO airspace, often with the planes' transponders switched off, making an accident or misperception more likely. As if that weren't dangerous enough, the bombers — hulking, decades-old Tupolev Tu-95 models — have become prone to accidents such as engine fires. What if a Tu-95 went down unexpectedly, say, off the coast of Norway? What if it was carrying nuclear warheads, or it went down during a moment of high tension? Such incidents can lead to misunderstandings, and such misunderstandings can lead to war.
For those throwing blame at Western governments
Blame for what incident are you referring to???
Thanks @JohnDe for the enclosed vox.com article and your commentary. It is a prescient read, hard to believe it is from 7 years ago during Obama's time.For those throwing blame at Western governments, read your history first. Russia is no angel, it is a paranoid failed state with a mad man in dictatorial control.
June 29, 2015
How World War III became possible
A nuclear conflict with Russia is likelier than you think.www.vox.com
Incident? Where did you get that from? I'm sorry if my post has confused you, I know that reading is an art form these days, but homework is always good before commenting
For those throwing blame at Western governments
And Putin is nuts, a KGB thug, a bully, through and through.
Thanks @JohnDe for the enclosed vox.com article and your commentary. It is a prescient read, hard to believe it is from 7 years ago during Obama's time.
It really brings together the current mindset in both Russia and NATO.
And Putin is nuts, a KGB thug, a bully, through and through.
Luckily the West seems to be marching to a different united drum now and may be able to face him down. Otherwise it will be deja vu, as they say, all over again, sometime down the track.
gg
RE: "If all stay strong and united, Russia will back down with or without Putin""Luckily the West seems to be marching to a different united drum now" Agreed.
The worrying part of all this is that western governments are forced to back off due to increasing voter (incorrect) sentiment, giving Putin exactly what he wants - weak, do nothing governments that give him full reign to do whatever he likes. If people knew their history, they'd see the similarities to Hitler's aggression in the early 1930's.
If all stay strong and united, Russia will back down with or without Putin.
RE: "If all stay strong and united, Russia will back down with or without Putin"
Seriously @JohnDe you really think so !? Then you don't understand/are ignorant of Russia's people/culture & Putin's intellect/mindset/mentality.
I don't condone Putin's actions whatsoever as war is pure evil but neither do I condone EU/NATO's response/actions in escalating situation.
Clearly neither side wants peace as both keen on pursuing an escalation of war to the point of a heightened nuclear threat.
I hate/detest war simple as that but unfortunately seems like mankind/humanity hasn't learnt anything from previous world war's/conflicts & history itself.
Belli forgot about number 45Well, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church likes him so that's good isn't it?
I'll simply observe that I personally know quite a few who've had major concerns about this for 25+ years now.For those throwing blame at Western governments, read your history first. Russia is no angel, it is a paranoid failed state with a mad man in dictatorial control.
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