Miscellaneous News
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
Lethe
Captain
The only limitation on European policy toward Ukraine is on the subject of NATO, where accession requires unanimous consent. Yet the diplomatic history prior to the 2022 invasion has been well established at this point: Germany and France led the faction of nations that were sensitive to Russia's "red lines" regarding Ukraine and effectively obstructed progress towards NATO accession, while the United States led the faction (including, to be fair, some European nations) backing Ukraine in pushing for NATO accession and thereby, as we now know, along the path to war. As Washington was never the limiting factor on bringing Ukraine into NATO, even this theoretical limitation is, in practice, no limitation at all. Everything else is within the sovereign grasp of each European nation, including force generation and force deployment.
Trump daring to acknowledge the uncomfortable reality of the situation should not be a shocking development. What is shocking is that it has required hundreds of thousands killed and wounded in direct combat, many millions suffering indirectly, and a starkly diminished Ukrainian nation facing a prospective recovery bill in the hundreds of billions of dollars, to bring us to the present juncture whereby that reality can actually be publicly acknowledged. The performative outrage from leaders of nations most of whom (a) privately recognised the folly of attempting to bring Ukraine into NATO long ago and (b) have chosen not to invest in the capabilities that would be required to shape outcomes in this conflict without the United States, naturally invites the question: what alternative course of action would they suggest? A continuation of the status quo that appears to be significantly more sustainable for Russia than it is for Ukraine? A doubling or tripling down on external material support for Ukraine despite the comprehensive failure of most European governments to prepare their nations for wartime production (let alone wartime service) to date? To deploy and bring extant European forces into direct conflict with Russia, thereby risking nuclear escalation?
If European nations had actually treated the Ukraine conflict as the existential wartime crisis for Europe that they have told us that it is, defence spending would've absolutely skyrocketed these last few years to integer multiples of pre-2022 spending and, with even modest coordination between only a few of the larger European powers, we would not now be in the position whereby the whims of Donald Trump have a decisive bearing on the prospects for sustaining Ukraine in that conflict. The helpless passivity of European nations and the diplomatic indignities associated with that are not iron laws of history or physics, but the outcome of deliberate choices that European nations have made over years and decades.
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They should take another look at the DDR. Historical analysis might reveal another 70/30 situation.
The issue is that at this point in time, everybody is aware any concession is only temporary regardless. That it takes just an election cycle for the US to renegue on any agreement made and the erraticness will only get worse as the empire futher slips
The first photo was Wang Yi meeting with Mark Rutte the secretary general of NATO.
Saudi liberated half of the country and gave that Socotra island to UAE. and now poverty sticken houthi have no soft power left. even that Iraqi was running straight to MBS in tent. this is called Soft Power.
Russia was correct in past it just didnot have the competence due to prolong communist rule where Ministries were stuffed with people from all Soviet republics. it took a while for them to understand Arabic soft power and its relations with Israel. Soviet breakup was not just separating republics but separating Muslims. the last part people not give importance.
even now people think this conflict is about NATO or Europe but in reality how this thing is executed it seems that Russia want to create an Islamic barrier between Europe and Itself. I dont think Russia has that much interest in Europe. but Arabs have interest in whole of Europe. when i said execution it really means the application Arabic soft power through out the society. certain things are visible like this children exchange with Ukraine using Qatar but the invisible part is that extreme wealth that is apparent but no one talk about like this Mosque in Moscow with deep pile foundation and finest built.
Wang said: dude, 早知今日，何必当初？