OOkkk...that might become the case. And it might be that it should be the case.
But you mentioned intelligent discourse. Or I thought you did.
Russia & Ukraine
- Thread starter UsualName
- Start date
OOkkk...that might become the case. And it might be that it should be the case.
But you mentioned intelligent discourse. Or I thought you did.
I don’t understand the disconnect here. Do you disagree with the statement Russia is in a major crisis and Putin has led his entire country into the biggest self inflicted wound since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor?
I just pointed out the actual boundary significance of Putin's words stating he wanted Russia returned to its historical boundaries of centuries past. The old historical boundaries -- if you take Putin as his word -- include Alaska and part of the U.S. coast. Keep in mind who the U.S. purchased Alaska from.
Of course I recognize that Putin is really just trying to re-create the former Soviet Union by forcing all the former republics into the new greater Russia. It is unlikely he has any intent on U.S. territory in the short term -- because he still has a lot of work to do to re-establish the Warsaw Bloc as a buffer and the new greater Russia comprising of all the Soviet Union territory.
While Russia may have had troops stationed in the breakaway region of Moldova for years. In the recent days before the invasion the Russians added more troops which were used to cross the border into the Ukraine. This is well covered in the press reports.
We all are "ranting." Or debating. Or whatever you want to call it.
I've never asked anyone to agree with my "internet toughness," whatever that even means.
I present my contentions ... like everyone else. I prefer agreement with my contentions, not that others agree with some made up quality you call "internet toughness." Cite your source.
I'm a member with a keyboard; like everyone else. I normally respond in kind, so if that makes me "tough," I don't see it. Toughness has to be measured in real life, imo.
If anything, what you describe may make me funny to some; witty to others; or an asshole to a few. But never "tough."
Yet, I still have my own opinion. Are you suggesting that our opinions here have to agree with world leaders? Or yours?
NO ONE CAN KNOW FOR SURE WHAT ANOTHER PERSON WILL, OR WON'T DO! We all have opinions; they don't have to agree. And there's no reason to get mad about them.
You have your opinion.
I have my opinion.
Experts have their opinion.
Ok. So. What's the problem? Why all this drama and odd arguments (Example: You suggest, in essence, that you can't have opinions about US foreign military policy unless you're on Active Duty.)
Apparently only a few see the humor in this post. Chill people, chill. Now on with the expert commentary which we all come here to read and post our own genius ideas. On with the show.
2/27/2022
Wheat and Deep Ports: The Long History of Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
News Abroad
tags: Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Russian Empire, Russian history, geopolitics, Catherine the Great
by Scott Reynolds Nelson
Scott Reynolds Nelson is the Georgia Athletic Association Professor of History at the University of Georgia. His book, Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade The World, about the Russian and American contest over the international market for wheat, will be published by Basic Books on February 22, 2022.
Observers discussing the Russian tanks, infantry vehicles, ballistic missiles, and soldiers massed at Russia’s borders with Ukraine have framed the story as either a reawakening of Cold War tensions or as Vladimir Putin’s attempts to stoke nationalist sentiment at home. But there is a bigger and much older geopolitical story behind this buildup of troops. One part of it goes back to 1768, when Tsarina Catherine II had tens of thousands of Russian soldiers move South to conquer the plains above the Black Sea. The war she started against both the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire was just one of many Russian wars of expansion into the Black Sea region. In 1768, however, Catherine the Great succeeded. She was bent on seizing land that would supply Europe with fuel. Her victory created the town of Odessa, and Odessa’s wealth would feed Europe for a hundred years and give Russia the wealth necessary to make it the largest land empire in the world.
If Ukraine brought Russia wealth it has always been more than that...
More...
Excerpt:
"Soviet attempts to drain Russia’s peatlands for wheat and rye have turned much of Russia’s landscape into a perfect field for Russian wildfires. These wildfires have repeatedly driven up food prices in Russia. Even today the average share of consumer expenditure devoted to food in Russia is nearly thirty percent, triple the expenditure in Europe and close to that of Libya, Tunisia, Syria, and Egypt, the countries whose governments collapsed during the surge of food prices that led to Arab Spring."
Wheat and Deep Ports: The Long History of Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
News Abroad
tags: Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Russian Empire, Russian history, geopolitics, Catherine the Great
by Scott Reynolds Nelson
Scott Reynolds Nelson is the Georgia Athletic Association Professor of History at the University of Georgia. His book, Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade The World, about the Russian and American contest over the international market for wheat, will be published by Basic Books on February 22, 2022.
Observers discussing the Russian tanks, infantry vehicles, ballistic missiles, and soldiers massed at Russia’s borders with Ukraine have framed the story as either a reawakening of Cold War tensions or as Vladimir Putin’s attempts to stoke nationalist sentiment at home. But there is a bigger and much older geopolitical story behind this buildup of troops. One part of it goes back to 1768, when Tsarina Catherine II had tens of thousands of Russian soldiers move South to conquer the plains above the Black Sea. The war she started against both the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire was just one of many Russian wars of expansion into the Black Sea region. In 1768, however, Catherine the Great succeeded. She was bent on seizing land that would supply Europe with fuel. Her victory created the town of Odessa, and Odessa’s wealth would feed Europe for a hundred years and give Russia the wealth necessary to make it the largest land empire in the world.
If Ukraine brought Russia wealth it has always been more than that...
More...
Excerpt:
"Soviet attempts to drain Russia’s peatlands for wheat and rye have turned much of Russia’s landscape into a perfect field for Russian wildfires. These wildfires have repeatedly driven up food prices in Russia. Even today the average share of consumer expenditure devoted to food in Russia is nearly thirty percent, triple the expenditure in Europe and close to that of Libya, Tunisia, Syria, and Egypt, the countries whose governments collapsed during the surge of food prices that led to Arab Spring."
I don't disagree with the statement that Russia is in a major crisis and Putin has led them there.
The rest of your statement is hyperbolic and subjective, and evidence of a lack of Russian history knowledge.
Then stop being crazy with your posts. To even suggest (and then not admit it was hyperbole) that Russia would consider Alaska, etc...is madness. Try to keep your commentary inside the lines of normalcy for a little. That is, if you want intelligent discourse. If you don't, well just continue.
I also don't believe he wants to recreate the FSU. Er..let me restate lest someone jump all over me for that. I believe he would love to see it but he's not fool enough to think that is going to happen.
You object to posting a map of Russia's former territory over the centuries to provide context of what Putin's point about re-creating its "historical boundaries of centuries past" means. SAD.