Quote (ferdia @ May 29 2023 12:15pm)
In response to all this:
What is your view on US spheres of influence and Russian spheres of influence, do you agree with the simple notion that they exist, and that smaller, weaker countries have to live with this (we are not talking about fairness).
To my mind a sphere of influence is only so large if a country is able and willing to defend it (the rule of might is right as best exemplified by US foreign policy). It is for this reason that Russia (being weak) was challenged by Nato expansion.
No one is holding up the Russia / Soviet (or w/e you want to call it) model as best in class - its terrible, all we are saying is, there was a status quo, the US broke the status quo and here we are.
feel free to refute any of that.
I agree that spheres of influence exist. I think the Russian sphere of influence is culturally weaker and is compensated by brute force. What we are talking about here is that some people equate Russian security concerns with those of Europe and Ukraine. Neither of thesew were threatening Russia. Might is right is something people learn in high school and its honestly a very juvenile talking point. Its like solipsism, philosophically barren. Most grow past that, but many here dont.
What i dont agree with are the inconsistencies. Invading Ukraine resulted in NATO expansion in Finland, out of the own will of the people because of war trauma. Sweden is pending. Everyones saying Fin/swe=/=Ukraine... but proceed to claim that Russian security concerns over Crimea are valid. How about the state of St. Petersburg? It would be natural to assume it is at least doubly threatened by NATO. They arent really lamenting that in Russia.
Russian response in Ukraine due to Western influence can be viewed from a geopolitical perspective, but it assumes unanimity in the circles of power of Russia. Russia is much more complex now than it was during Soviet times, and in my view the geopolitical analysis (usually in an apologetic fashion) mostly seen here assumes Russia to be a monolith. We also hinge on an assumption that NATO is willing to threaten Russia. Wheres the evidence?
This post was edited by Neptunus on May 30 2023 06:01pm