the US lost so much ground because of their endless wars. I think Russia will suffer the same. in the last thirty years, every major country have won the war they entered but lost out in the longer run.
The US fought wars for the sake of imperialism, based on lies. There were no Iraqi or Afghan hijackers in 9-11, there was no WMD in Iraq, there was no massacre by Milosevic, there was no massacre by Gaddafi, and etc. US and its allies have fought wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria with no clear objectives. Was was their objective? Was it liberation, or occupation, or counter-insurgency? They've got their objectives so messed-up, and they wantonly kill local civilians on top of that. Its no wonder they cannot truly win their wars.
For Russia, they are fighting a war against existential threats: NATO and fascism. These are far bigger threats to Russia than any level of threat that Saddam Hussein, Gadaffi, or Milosevic could ever pose to America. Russia's objectives are quite clear: to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. Russia has set out from day one to respect the human rights of most Ukrainians, except the fascists. Its quite a flawed strategy, but its still far better than how the West treats people on the other side in their own wars.
Russian propaganda campaigns only targeted the Ukronazis and their government. We don't see them spreading hate about the Ukrainian language, people, or culture. Contrast this to what those Ukrainian Russophobes are saying on Western media. We can hear them using xenophobic words like: "killing Russians", "banning Russians", and "blonde hair and blue eyes". Many of these Ukrainian interviewees advocated WWIII, and even hinted at relishing nuclear genocide on Russians. This is an enemy that Russia must defeat now. Not wait for them to come for Russia in the future with NATO protection behind them.
Its not like Russia didn't try talking at first. They have been doing that with Minsk I and II for 8 years. Ukraine, with the West's blessing have exhausted all peaceful options. Then Ukraine decided to ascend into NATO and dreamed about attaining nukes. How much further can they push Russia?
I don't think China is in the position to give any country special rights. China is against all wars. But China also doesn't believe in sanctions. To me "trade as usual" is a good policy. to be honest that's kinda how the US gain their hegemony anyway.
That's a naive statement. Yes, China doesn't desire war, but that doesn't mean that China would sit back from one that is brewing right beside it. There were many historical examples of China's own foreign intervention due to an impending existential threat. There were the: Korean War, the 1979 Vietnam War, and to a certain extent, the border conflicts with India. War is clearly China's last resort, but it is not something that would be off the table ever.
Just imagine that a neighbouring state is run by a Sinophobic fascist government. The people in this government are inspired by, and glorify Imperial Japanese war criminals. They regularly encourage Sinophobic progroms, pass laws banning any trace of Chinese identity, massacred local Chinese as well as Chinese nationals, and constantly taunt China. The West backs them in their anti-China crusade, even sending them weapons. This fascist state used those Western-supplied weapons to conduct more Sinophobic murders. They then progress to also conducting intermittent skirmishes with the PLA and PLAN. Some crazy people from this fascist state regularly appear on social media to talk about the inferiority of the Chinese race, and then brag about killing them. Then on one fine day, this fascist state asks for a Mutual Defence Treaty with the US. On top of that, it also expresses a desire to acquire nuclear weapons to point at China. When faced with such a problem, do you think that China should just keep "trade as usual"? Should China just sit back and wait for that fascist state to acquire US protection and nuclear weapons? Should China just stay passive, because the West might sanction China back to the 1980s? This is the situation that Russia faced with regards to Ukraine since 2014.
