Context is important to remember when reflecting on today’s hard-to-read headlines. A few transposed points from an overseas observer, Alex:
(1) Russia invaded Ukraine. That is categorically bad. But was it a total surprise? Raise your hand if you didn’t know Putin is indeed a prickly bear, known to be prone to be twitchy near the Black Sea border.
(2) Consider the underbelly @ Ukraine. A corrupt county beatified by lazy legacy media and image conscience leaders. Not to say most of its people aren’t nice, but the outer reaches of heaven it ain't. It has long had gangs and traffickers and genuine Neo Nazis. It's long had conflict between Ukrainian and Russian speakers. And it has long been caught in a tug of war in the forever proxy battle between “The West” and “Russia”.
(3) Remove the “Slava Ukraine!” selfies with the combat-clad Kyiv comedian — and the fluttering blue/yellow flags adorning the front yard — and throw in the long-expressed warnings from Russia to the West about FAFO in its backyard. Bake into the cake the brazen beguiling by the Brussels-based bloc — and the pre-Maga CIA — to coax the country into their club. I understand the majority of Ukrainians might want this, but that doesn’t mean that The West wasn’t picking a scab. That then bled.
(4) Meanwhile, understand, Europe tried to have its cake and eat it. It wanted Russian gas, but also wanted to pinch Ukraine for their own sphere of influence. From our perspective (of course) it would make it ‘One of the good guys’ - but that (of course) is a Western perspective. Russia and its frenemies in the anti-Western axis have long felt The West is a provocateur, while also losing its position in the fight for global dominance, mainly through self-inflicted injury (as pointed out by JD Vance).
(5) So when Putin decided to take his chance, Europe was caught with its pants down. Europe didn't want to take a single chance in return. Fearfulness and unpreparedness — plus entwined economies and problematic political permutations — meant that while selfies with Zelensky and offering homes to beautiful blonde haired women and their children was easy with fantastically good optics… cutting off gas supplies, slamming on sanctions and rushing over to Kyiv with arms was not so simple. And so European leaders all did the former, talking the talk, but prevaricated over the latter, thus not really walking the walk. Ever clever, EU used the excuse that provoking Putin would mean WW3 to disguise their ineptitude and hypocrisy.
(6) Now, however — after Trump’s intransigence and fury — they are shaking each other down over who is planning to put more troops into Ukraine than the other. Hmm, has the idea that this would create WW3 somehow dissipated?
(7) Remember, America is not in Europe. It has watched all of this take place from afar while writing checks for belt-fed billions that disappear into a war of attrition with no proof of purchase and no obvious returns… other than mitigating the Biden family’s already pre-pardoned corrupt collisions with shadowy figures in Kyiv. The war provided a solid distraction from that. But other than being told they are the guarantor for “global peace” you can see why many people @ USA 🇺🇸 don't get it. And those that do get it, don’t like it. And for populist Trump, that means enough is enough. Particularly when Europe itself can't seem to save itself, from itself.
Context is important to remember when reflecting on today’s hard-to-read headlines. A few transposed points from an overseas observer, Alex:
(1) Russia invaded Ukraine. That is categorically bad. But was it a total surprise? Raise your hand if you didn’t know Putin is indeed a prickly bear, known to be prone to be twitchy near the Black Sea border.
(2) Consider the underbelly @ Ukraine. A corrupt county beatified by lazy legacy media and image conscience leaders. Not to say most of its people aren’t nice, but the outer reaches of heaven it ain't. It has long had gangs and traffickers and genuine Neo Nazis. It's long had conflict between Ukrainian and Russian speakers. And it has long been caught in a tug of war in the forever proxy battle between “The West” and “Russia”.
(3) Remove the “Slava Ukraine!” selfies with the combat-clad Kyiv comedian — and the fluttering blue/yellow flags adorning the front yard — and throw in the long-expressed warnings from Russia to the West about FAFO in its backyard. Bake into the cake the brazen beguiling by the Brussels-based bloc — and the pre-Maga CIA — to coax the country into their club. I understand the majority of Ukrainians might want this, but that doesn’t mean that The West wasn’t picking a scab. That then bled.
(4) Meanwhile, understand, Europe tried to have its cake and eat it. It wanted Russian gas, but also wanted to pinch Ukraine for their own sphere of influence. From our perspective (of course) it would make it ‘One of the good guys’ - but that (of course) is a Western perspective. Russia and its frenemies in the anti-Western axis have long felt The West is a provocateur, while also losing its position in the fight for global dominance, mainly through self-inflicted injury (as pointed out by JD Vance).
(5) So when Putin decided to take his chance, Europe was caught with its pants down. Europe didn't want to take a single chance in return. Fearfulness and unpreparedness — plus entwined economies and problematic political permutations — meant that while selfies with Zelensky and offering homes to beautiful blonde haired women and their children was easy with fantastically good optics… cutting off gas supplies, slamming on sanctions and rushing over to Kyiv with arms was not so simple. And so European leaders all did the former, talking the talk, but prevaricated over the latter, thus not really walking the walk. Ever clever, EU used the excuse that provoking Putin would mean WW3 to disguise their ineptitude and hypocrisy.
(6) Now, however — after Trump’s intransigence and fury — they are shaking each other down over who is planning to put more troops into Ukraine than the other. Hmm, has the idea that this would create WW3 somehow dissipated?
(7) Remember, America is not in Europe. It has watched all of this take place from afar while writing checks for belt-fed billions that disappear into a war of attrition with no proof of purchase and no obvious returns… other than mitigating the Biden family’s already pre-pardoned corrupt collisions with shadowy figures in Kyiv. The war provided a solid distraction from that. But other than being told they are the guarantor for “global peace” you can see why many people @ USA 🇺🇸 don't get it. And those that do get it, don’t like it. And for populist Trump, that means enough is enough. Particularly when Europe itself can't seem to save itself, from itself.