u/Creeemi - originally from r/GenZhou
Also why are there two republics and not one? And was/is there really genocide in Donbas? I know about the 2014 fascist led coup by NATO aligned neo nazis and all that, but I dont really understand about the situatoin in east Ukraine, except that they are mostly russian speaking and have pro russian sentiments (which the west ukrainians dont like).
Edit: Also what exactly is Minsk II, why do people say its dead and who broke it and why?
u/meesk98 - originally from r/GenZhouI’m also curious why people think Russia isn’t imperialist? They already hold some power over Europe by being a big and crucial source of natural gas. A lot of people claim Europe can’t upset Russia too much out of fear of being cut off that gas. But I don’t know if that’s liberal Russia bad propaganda?
I know they’re not in the same position as the US, but surely Russia has the same interests and ambitions as them? It’s just that they’re competitors. It’s not like they have any communist ambitions anymore.
u/TheBlurstOfGuys - originally from r/GenZhouI think people reactively push back on this “Russia is imperialist” because it’s just recently been taught to libs as a stick to beat Russia with. Whether Russia is imperialist or not is completely irrelevant to this conflict. Are we to believe that the US/UK are not? It’s easy to look like you’re “supporting Russia” in general when you’re calling out western propaganda. It’s also easy for people to fall into a trap of actually supporting Russia when they’re defending it from propaganda. This entire narrative should be ignored for the purposes of discussing this conflict.
u/parentis_shotgun - originally from r/GenZhouDefine imperialism.
u/Ganem1227 - originally from r/GenZhouIt would be naive to say Russia doesn’t have imperialist ambitions, however they are forced by circumstance into the anti-imperialist camp. They’re boxed in by the west, they have nationalized industries that the west wants, and their own people don’t want their government to go on military adventures abroad, at least on the same scale as the US.
United Russia is strong now because they have to make alliances with the Russian working class to resist Western pressure. It’s very telling that the KPRF is the second largest party and is rising in popularity.
u/cfgaussian - originally from r/GenZhouThe most clear proof of the Russian bourgeoisie’s imperialist ambitions is Putin’s own admission of wanting to join NATO in 2000. If that had happened they would gladly have become part of the imperialist bloc with the Russian bourgeoisie taking their share of the spoils. However that is not what the US had in mind for Russia, they were never going to treat them as a (lesser) partner in their imperialist ventures like they do the Europeans, but as the target of their imperialism and neo-colonialism, as they are treating Ukraine now, as another periphery to export capital to, monopolize its markets, extract its resources. They wanted to dismantle Russia as a power and turn it into a neo-colony. They could never abide another strong nation in their imperialist camp, only vassals, and Russia could never have been one.
Thus Russia was forced by circumstance into the anti-imperialist camp, and they are quite firmly in it now that their alliance with China has solidified, they are offering help and support to other targets of US imperialism like Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua, etc. This is not to say that the situation in Russia itself is very rosy, it is still ruled by capitalists, reactionaries and anti-communists, the conditions for workers are not great, in effect in Russia the national bourgeoisie has won out over the comprador bourgeoisie. Of course the situation would undoubtedly be even worse if a neoliberal western puppet were to take over, but still, while we as non-Russians should support Russia’s foreign policy, it is up to the Russians themselves to kick out the oligarchs ruling them and bring back communism.
u/Alwaysdeadly - originally from r/GenZhouImperialism in the sense that communists use it doesn’t just mean ‘a state acting in its interests’ or ‘expansionism’. Lenin’s “Imperialism…” is only 90 pages, and may help your understanding of modern ‘imperialism’.
u/unicorns_do_meth - originally from r/GenZhouRead lenin’s imperialism the highest stage. Russia is not imperialist. Imperialism doesnt mean a big country bullying other countries. It is a global economic system (at this point run by the US) Now that doesnt make russia “good” but thats irrelevant.
[deleted] - originally from r/GenZhou[removed]
u/Staerebu - originally from r/GenZhouI think it’s more regional imperialism than the usual suspects and their global colonial imperialism - I think it’s also a lot more complex because the USSR existed - would it be imperialism if Xi died, and his successor dismantled China in 2023, and then in 2046 there was a coup in Tibet which installed a fascist government, while Chinese people near Tibet also rebelled against the government, and the Chinese successor state rolled into those disputed territories?
Not a perfect analogy, but indicates some of the complexity. I think the bottom line is to look at development and harm to residents and then assess actions based on that, if you want to try to somehow rank things on a moral worthiness scale.