[caww]

I understand the sides of the equation but I don’t agree how they’re going about settling matters because there’s far too many parties entangled with Ukraines mess....and it is Ukraines mess regardless who they allow to manage their affairs. They certainly don’t handle their own affairs without being in constant conflict within and without...and because they don’t they suck in and create problems for the world.

[Rockingham]

Ukraine is a work in progress but better than you suggest. The current conflict aside, Ukraine improved greatly over the last decade, slowly reforming and becoming better organized, more free, and less corrupt. This is a familiar pattern in central and eastern Europe as the ills of the Soviet era fade and US and Western practices and policies are increasingly adopted.

Ukraine also reformed its military over the last several years by following the US and Western military model of a strong NCO corps, professional soldiers instead of conscripts, flexible, decentralized decision-making and nimble tactics, and better weapons. That is a major reason why Russia got such a nasty surprise when Putin ordered an invasion.

I am confident that when Ukraine wins, reforms will progress even more rapidly. Like the US after WW II, an entire generation will try to make sense of their struggle and sacrifice by making a better country.