>>> To me, it was obvious decades ago that trying to surround Russia aggressively and kick them out of Crimea was going to lead to bad outcomes.<<<
You may remember - in the early days, in the 9o’s, there was a Russian politician, member of the Duma - a clownish character by the name Zhirinovsky. He became famous for his lively speeches which would leave half of his listeners insulted - and all of them laughing.
He often attacked his colleagues for being… not smart and too meek. He would say “The world shows no respect for us and treats us like a third world country. In the meantime, we are a global superpower. All we need in order to really be one is to start acting like one”.
Back in the 90’s and 2000’s the “world” believed its own omnipresent propaganda - and failed to bring Russia into the fold - which was what the Russians wanted back then. They continued to be treated at arms length, even with animosity - and, some years later, the FP journals started publishing interesting articles with titles like “Who lost Russia?”.
Russia rebuilt the best they could - and started following the advise of Zhirinovsky. Maybe the guy wasn’t such an idiot after all.
As far as Prez Z…. I think he’s way out of his depth. Azov people openly threaten him - saying that if he “betrays Ukraine” - he’d lose not only his job, but his life as well. Obviously, his hotline to the WH and the State Dept remains “hot” around the clock. Clearly, he’s performing quite a balancing act. Remember that he’s a dancer, a comedian. Politically, apparently he’s a creature of a oligarch - who sponsored and promoted his TV show where he played a “president” - and who later sponsored his political career. As for the guys smarts - half of the time I find myself wondering - is he a naive fool - OR, a master manipulator.
He constantly acts as if he is determined to turn the Russia - Ukraine war global. When he couldn’t get his emergency admission to NATO, he came up with the idea of NATO member nations providing him with security guarantees - which is an obvious back door towards having, in effect, Nato membership.
It’s pretty disgraceful that he is willing to go along with the plan of turning Ukraine into a second Afghanistan for Russia. His job ought to be working for the Ukrainian people - their interests, safety and well-being. |
