Deals between sovereigns are different from a sovereign being sued by a non-sovereign.



More or less what I meant by "undue harm". The government can harm you by violating your guaranteed rights or through permitted liabilities. However some harms are unavoidable from living in a society and you can't really sue for those.

This post was edited by NetflixAdaptationWidow on Apr 7 2022 06:54pm

People respond to greed and fear. I will admit that America has not exercised the best foreign policy because we have a history of appeasing Russia. Our policy of appeasement made Russia think that the consequences of pulling the trigger wouldn't be severe. If any lesson is to be learned from this, it's that America needs to be much more aggressive both militarily and economically. It's a careful balance though because you don't want to push Russia to the point where they feel that they have nothing to lose. The ideal scenario is for them to be as isolated as North Korea.

Thankfully, Russia is going to be crippled from this endeavor. Finland will join NATO and we'll be able to place nuclear weapons a mere dozens of miles from the cultural capital of Russia: St. Petersburg. This level of fear should lead to some more appropriate behavior from such a savage country.

I am not gonna get into the specifics of how they resolve conflicts on the international scale. I just want to point out that when you say the more powerful one is automatically at fault is some serious communist logic. Like, seriously. The weaker ones can do no wrong. I mean, what the fuck?

This post was edited by JessiWan on Apr 7 2022 06:57pm

I really hope you are joking.

Except I didn't say the more powerful one is automatically at fault. When the more powerful one has many more peaceful options at its disposal it can be blamed for taking the violent option.

And this fervent anti-Russian policy, will it serve America's national interests? Is Russia our greatest geopolitical foe, and their loss is our gain?

But you don't get to choose for Russia whether they have more peaceful options or not.

I wouldn't say that Russia is our "greatest" geopolitical foe but there really isn't hope for them until Putin is dead. Their loss is absolutely our gain.

I had no other option but to hit my wife. You don't get to choose if I have peaceful options or not.

nobody denies that russia's neighbours seeking nato membership (why could they possibly want that, lol?) is something pootin doesn't like. of course he doesn't. he thinks he has the right to determine how other sovereign nations conduct their foreign affairs, he acts like russia has some kind of legitimate claim on ukrainian territory.

we can acknowledge that, but that does NOT mean we have to agree with that position and act like it's a legitimate one - and every halfway intelligent person will come to the conclusion that those claims and ambitions are illegitimate. what ukraine does is solely up to the ukrainian people. it's a sovereign country, recognised by the entire world as such. every halfway intelligent person (and that includes pootin himself) also knows that the alleged fear of NATO invading russia is complete bullshit. no one in their right mind would attack the country with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, and pootin KNOWS that, 100%.

so yes, russia is unhappy with ukraine, unhappy with the west, but that does NOT mean that therefore they have ANY right to attack / invade the country, or that they don't deserve the blame for it.

let's say you really want to have a dog, and you get one, even though you know your neighbour hates dogs. it might not be the most neighbourly thing to do, and one would understand if they're upset about it, but it's ultimately your decision. they don't have ANY right, legally or morally, to just kill your dog, or even you - and if they did, no one in their right mind would suggest you deserve part of the blame, simply for getting a dog even though your neighbour hates them. it's your right to decide what you do with your life, and i don't see why you wouldn't grant that same right to ukrainians...