It seems there are 3 basic views on FR here: One extreme is Putin is the second coming of Hitler and if we let him win now he will gobble up NATO one country at a time and rule the world. So we have to stop him even if it means we are nuked.
The other extreme view is Putin is a saint and had to defend mother Russia or we would have invaded them next year.
Sachs I think has a more nuanced and historically accurate view and more in line with what I feel true conservatives have. That the causes of this war are Deep and nether side has a clear claim of entirely being in the right. That yes Russia has faults like being warlike in the past but also NATO clearly lied on promises and interfered with Ukraines politics. Etc
Anyway see for yourself.
Good. Torch the planet. That *might* wake people up, at least outside of the US. This country has too many idiots to matter.
Putin is more like the second coming of Mussolini.
But Mussolini is all it took to break up the post-WWI international order. And then it was a free-for-all of irredentism, ethnic and ideological conflict, and then wars of conquest.
The world has enjoyed thirty years of general peace. Everywhere (almost) swords have been turned to ploughshares. Putin has overstepped the rules that have kept the peace, and if the rules are shown to be toothless, then its open season again.
The 500 pound gorilla is China. Thats where your Hitler is. Or your Wilhelm II and Tirpitz. Read “Dreadnought”, Massie.
bkmk
bkmk
There are definitely at least two distinct narratives. Narrative A (being pushed by the mainstream media and by Biden and Blinken) is that Putin is an imperialist who had no excuse for invading Ukraine, and we must keep pouring money and weapons into Ukraine for as long as it takes to stop Putin from taking over Europe. Narrative B is that the West largely provoked Putin into war by continuing to press for NATO expansion into Ukraine, after he had made it clear many times that he regarded this as an existential threat. According to this narrative, all Putin wants is a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality, and we can end the war very quickly by agreeing to this. Of course, after losing 300,000 men, Putin will not give up his territorial gains.
bump for later