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Factoid: In one of my dead tree books a diplomat mentions that Russians use a word corresponding to "ownership" when they talk about spheres of influence. ...

They need to unlearn that habit if they are to get along with the West, but I won't hold my breath. ... It does help explain their recent behaviour, though.

We in the West need to absorb the fact that Russia is an alien culture. Not like us at all. Thinking that they are just makes for trouble.

I was once told by a colleague who spent several years in China that there is no word for "ethics" in Mandarin. I wonder if that's true in Russian as well.

No one has us beat when it comes to the expanse of ones sphere of influence and sense of entitlement: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine

We see, in various ways (because a sphere of influence can be political, economic or militarily), the entire Central and South America, Pacific Rim, NATO alliance, parts of North Africa, most of the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Israel, now Iraq and Syria which we invaded and occupy), as our “sphere of influence.”

This is us: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/vwc2uv/us_military_bases_around_the_world/#lightbox

Since 1991:

—We have troops in more nations than any other country. Here’s a nice visual of where our bases are: https://worldbeyondwar.org/no-bases/

—We have more troops outside our border than any other country.

—We occupy (flat out occupation) more countries than any other nation.

—We have invaded more countries, than any other nation.

—We have attacked more countries than any other nation.

—We export more arms, than any other nation.

—We provide more military assistance to others than any other nation.

—We spend more on defense, than any other nation.

—We have more people employed in the war industrial base than any other nation.

—We have sponsored more coups, than any other nation.

—We have one of the largest military’s in terms of manpower, larger than Russia (even with their partial mobilization for war).

—We use more mercenaries around the world and spend more money on these than any other nation.

—We have dropped more tonnage in terms of bombs than any other nation.

Since 1775: https://vividmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/war_conflicts-1.jpg

And then we talk about “peace.” Because we’re so peace loving!

We are the ones expanding NATO Eastward.

We are the ones that overthrew a government in Ukraine (Maiden) and put ourselves in charge.

And then you want to talk about how Russia has no right to a “spheres of influence?”

Are you being funny?

Chad C. Mulligan: "We in the West need to absorb the fact that Russia is an alien culture.
Not like us at all.
Thinking that they are just makes for trouble."

Fulda Gap into West Germany:

For me, that's no problem, since I grew up in the Cold War of the 1950s & 1960s, served in the US Army in West Germany near the Fulda Gap, during the 1970s.
So, I fully understand how evil and aggressive the Old Soviets were, if we let them.
And I also know that a bright young 1970s & 1980s era KGB Lt.Col. was at the core of what it meant to be an Old Soviet.

So, for me, this is simply life as I remember it from my youth.

But for anybody who came of age after 1991 -- and that's everyone under about 45 years old -- this is a new, strange and perhaps terrifying world.
Especially, if you imagine that the greatest existential threats we face come from climate change, racial-sexual oppressions, gender dysphoria and MAGA "threats to Democracy" -- well, then Russia's invasions of its neighbors are beyond the scale of your concerns.
Yes, so far, most (not all) Democrats have dutifully followed their leadership, but I have long predicted Democrats will instantly abandon Ukraine, once Republicans are in charge again in 2025.

And some conservatives themselves (ourselves) are not immune to the siren-song of "Let rapists be rapists, let murderers be murderers and Russians be Russians, Ukraine is corrupt, so it's not our war."

Thursday's Trump-Biden "debate" -- or rather lack of -- clearly proves that the US will have new leadership in January 2025, if not before.
I think that will be Donald Trump in January and I'm certain he will try to work some kind of deal, though how, exactly, it might end up looking, I have no idea.

I think the only acceptable deal is Russia withdraws all troops from Ukraine's 2013 borders, pays reparations for the death and destruction Russia caused (circa $1 trillion today), and submits its entire current leadership to international war crimes trials.

If Trump can do that, he'll be among the greatest peacemakers ever.
If he just gives away chunks of Ukraine in exchange for a temporary truce with Vlad the Invader, then, no, not so much.

imho yrmv

What habit do we need to unlearn?

Where have they gone? https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/06/24/tribal_nation_map_custom-c38486e67774d693c6fe163fa4ae839da8277e6c.jpg?s=900&c=85&f=webp. How did that happen?

I suppose we needed to liberate these lands.

How did that that become “American?”

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2F4jod869skee31.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D399515578d99207d0d49e537f898a8349f9542d5

Funny when we label these people as “illegals” today.

How did these become “possessions” or “territories?”

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3701sm.gct00483/?sp=35&st=image&r=-0.059,-0.524,1.111,1.763,0

But that’s all past tense, we’re entirely different today. Today we “liberate” countries by attacking, invading and occupying them, in the name of human rights, freedom, democracy, WMD and terrorism:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraq-seeks-quick-exit-us-forces-no-deadline-set-pm-says-2024-01-10/

That was literally, about the 20th time we have been asked to leave in the last 21 years, in a country where less than 3% of the population approve of us being there (I wonder why our state department don’t publish those stats?) in what the majority sees as occupation.

No one, is willing to use force like we do (at the drop of a dime), and then we lecture others. No one has the size of “sphere of influence” we have, and then we lecture others about how they don’t have a right to such.

But... All you need to do is throw around terms like democracy, sovereignty, and human rights (as we torture, kidnap, engage in assassinations and co-sponsor terrorism). That makes it all good.

Some conceptual idea is used to “sell” another invasion, attack, coups where no national security argument can be made. Let me ask you this, did we sponsor the coups in Venezuela 2020 because we’re worried they might invade us? Attack us? What realistic threat did they pose? Do you think maybe it’s possible that the FACT (not some conceptual idea) that they are a major oil producers has something to do with it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gideon_(2020)#:~:text=Operation%20Gideon%20(Spanish%3A%20Operaci%C3%B3n%20Gede%C3%B3n,remove%20Nicol%C3%A1s%20Maduro%20from%20power.