By Mike WHITNEY “Here’s something you must understand. We were not given any opportunity to act differently.” Vladimir Putin The plan to engage Russia militarily…
I generally agree with the assessment. There are some short term gains for US from all this, but the long term trends will favor a multipolar world and decrease of western influence over the world.
I think the idea that Russia could lose a conventional war in Ukraine is frankly fantastical. Russia has a much better ironed out military industrial base, it has all the resources it needs, and the society in Russia is broadly unified in support for the war. People understand that this is a conflict between Russia and NATO, they remember what’s been done to them back in the 90s, and they don’t want a repeat of that.
On the other hand, NATO is a hodgepodge of different vassals governed by US. All of them are competing with each other and have many animosities towards one another. US is the only nation in the alliance with any serious military industrial capacity, and it’s currently failing to provide sufficient material support for the proxy war.
On top of all that, the west is now on the hook for propping up the entire Ukrainian economy as well as the military. The war is costing billions each month, and it’s coming at the expense of the standard of living of the people in western countries. While Russians understand why there may be hardships, it’s far less clear to people in the west who don’t see this conflict as existential for them.
I generally agree with the assessment. There are some short term gains for US from all this, but the long term trends will favor a multipolar world and decrease of western influence over the world.
I think the idea that Russia could lose a conventional war in Ukraine is frankly fantastical. Russia has a much better ironed out military industrial base, it has all the resources it needs, and the society in Russia is broadly unified in support for the war. People understand that this is a conflict between Russia and NATO, they remember what’s been done to them back in the 90s, and they don’t want a repeat of that.
On the other hand, NATO is a hodgepodge of different vassals governed by US. All of them are competing with each other and have many animosities towards one another. US is the only nation in the alliance with any serious military industrial capacity, and it’s currently failing to provide sufficient material support for the proxy war.
On top of all that, the west is now on the hook for propping up the entire Ukrainian economy as well as the military. The war is costing billions each month, and it’s coming at the expense of the standard of living of the people in western countries. While Russians understand why there may be hardships, it’s far less clear to people in the west who don’t see this conflict as existential for them.