Yet it is tainted by an air of smug contrarianism and shitposting. Apologetics isn't the same as apologizing. Here it is the downplaying or outright ignoring of the part where Russian civil liberty is continuously squeezed into an ever decreasing space by the whims of the state/oligarchy. You can't talk about Russian geo-politics without taking into account the interests of each of the parties involved: the Kremlin and the Siloviks, the oligarchy, the Russian people, the Russian opposition. The discussion on geopolitics seems to reduce Russia into a monolith with clearly defined intentions, when in reality it is internally divided. The same goes for NATO. It is only portrayed as a hypocritical, ever-expanding military entity that threatens world peace. Very, very dumbed down.

This post was edited by Neptunus on May 28 2023 09:36am

How much time should be made for people who don't know the basics of the situation a year + in?

The smugness you experience is probably a direct result of the condescending tone your posts have despite not being very well educated on the topic

I am pretty sure by now looking at the comments and post so far, you will have an idea who are the ones who are consistently " shit posting " by now. Whether the civil liberty is continuously squeezed as you mention is an internal problem that needs to be solved by the Russians themselves.
A Russian problem can only be solved by Russians. A Muslim problem can only be solved by Muslim. External influence to create division will only end up with more unrest , colour revolutions and unstable politics that more often than not give rise to nationalism , terrorism, anarchy, population displacement etc etc which will have a detrimental outward effect to their surrounding neighbors and last but not least the EU West ( since they are most likely to to give refuge to those fleeing a devastated nation ).

This post was edited by Hamsterbaby on May 28 2023 09:44am

While I would agree with this statement usually, under wartime conditions all parties involved tend to act in their own self interest (Russia winning) so its easier to make broad assumptions about Russian geo politics (and nato) when at war because their intentions are more easily defined.(imo)

In my opinion, during war time, the internal politics and polls in Russia / USA / China / EU or anywhere else in the world becomes increasingly moot. Every country involved are doing it in their self interest, whether is it political or economical etc etc.
Some countries will suffer more than others due to great power politics.

When I mentioned this to you in a previous comment, maybe we should look and start to read more starting with Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens all the way up to how we sleep walk into 1914 and what gave rise to Hitler's Germany.
All the answers are there.

Pride and EGO and the need to remain in constant control and the need to avoid humiliation to save the dignity of your entire race and the inability to recline , house keep and invigorate always ends up with a do or die attitude and thus starting wars.
If we are lucky, it will be a regional conflict. But it is looking more and more like a global one sooner or later.

I guess the first mistake will be to consider autocracies to be the same kind of "nations" like democracies, and then to proceed basic logical reasonnings (historical comparisons, equivalences etc) following this fallacy.
We could even be careful regarding the simple military and geostrategic comparisons because some decision are made at individual levels (Typically Putin's decision to agress Ukraine) without even listening to advisors or group.

Wot

I guess the first mistake (or trickery) will be to consider autocracies to be the same kind of "nations" than democracies and then to proceed historical equivalencies or others comparisons following this fallacy.
We could even be careful regarding the simple military and geostrategic comparisons because some decisions are made at individual levels (typically Putin's decision to invade Ukraine) without even listening to advisors* or groups.
*Or these to be too scared to tell him the truth. Behaviors at individual level are also impacted for all the people living in these countries.

It change everything, and this is why now i will systematically call "China" CCP and Russia "Tsar's soup"

This post was edited by Meanwhile on May 28 2023 11:14am

History repeating itself again and again.

The West bombing the shit out of other countries claiming they can do that because they're "the good guys" followed by the West being confronted with hordes of refugees from those same countries.

Jesus Tsar's soup is boiling.

Curious if the Russians will like it or not