The foreign affairs thread

Putin is trying everything he can to get his guy back in office. He is going to make things extremely difficult for Biden. He is already. It is so fuckin obvious. All Putin wants to see is people over here saying “this would never happen if Trump were in office “. It is literally psychology 101. Playing the Trumpers like fiddles. If you think Putin doesn’t want Trump back in office in 2024 u are not thinking.

Putin is trying everything he can to get his guy back in office. He is going to make things extremely difficult for Biden. He is already. It is so fuckin obvious. All Putin wants to see is people over here saying “this would never happen if Trump were in office “. It is literally psychology 101. Playing the Trumpers like fiddles. If you think Putin doesn’t want Trump back in office in 2024 u are not thinking.

Ukraine? Trump was angry with the Ukrainians and given his personality he'd have told Putin to go ahead and invade, US interests be damned. If you visit FreeRepublic you'll see this reflected in his most devoted supporters (Many of those who post there outright want the US to take Russia's side (makes one wonder if Russian Bots are present there)). That said Biden brought on this aggressive action due to his weak ass decisions in the foreign arena last year.

Of course Russia is going to Russia when Biden is in office. Just like when Russia kicked Obama’s weak ass all over the world, including Ukraine. Too simply think this isn’t a strategy is laughable.

Just strange how Democrats claimed the previous administration was under Russian influence, why wouldn’t they have taken Ukraine then?

Make no mistake, Russia and other world powers see a weak President

Because we gave them Syria, pulled troops out of Germany, agreed with the Taliban to withdrawl troops from Afghanistan, kissed Putins ass for RT as much as possible ...

We were good to Russia and our daddy pimp Putin didnt slap us around.

Because we gave them Syria, pulled troops out of Germany, agreed with the Taliban to withdrawl troops from Afghanistan, kissed Putins ass for RT as much as possible ...

We were good to Russia and our daddy pimp Putin didnt slap us around.

How much of that was done in the previous administration?

This thread would be a lot more interesting if we actually talked about the issue intelligently instead of bickering about how Trump would have handled it or how it's Biden's fault. Anybody have anything intelligent to offer about the actual situation?

I can't claim to be smart but I'll at least try...

There's the obvious historical ties between Russia and Ukraine and Putin wanting to restore what he looks at as a Russian state with pro-Russian sentiment (that he refuses to acknowledge is now more pro-European than it is pro-Russian).

But his bigger endgame is to back NATO away from Russia's borders and shrink its influence as the guarantor of security in Europe. He's particularly upset at the Baltic States having such a strong NATO presence and he wants to see force deployments in the Eastern part of NATO's sphere scaled back.

So this is brinksmanship. He has amassed troops near Ukraine like this before, back in April, and he pulled them back after a few weeks. Now he's doing it again and it's primarily motivated by trying to bring NATO to the table.

It's entirely possible though he moves into Ukraine and actually takes some of the territory just to show that he's not to be dismissed.

But amassing troops at the border also has another effect: instilling fear in Ukrainian citizens. In a nation that has a pro-European majority and a pro-Russian minority, fear can be a powerful motivator to shift the votes of the citizens to acquiescing and voting for a pro-Russian government again, next time an election comes up. If NATO and the US doesn't take action to secure Ukraine and make those citizens feel safer, with the might of western defenses supporting them, the votes of the people can easily drift towards Putin.

Biden has fumbled his statements but he needs to be taking strong positions that we won't just enact strong economic sanctions, but he needs to credibly threaten Russia that the United States and NATO will defend whoever they see fit. Now is a good time to send a carrier group into the Aegean Sea.

I don’t know about knee jerk military movements right now by us, maybe months ago, but not now. I think the problem continues to be Europe, mainly Germany and their commitment. Biggest economy, biggest buyer of energy from Russia. That’s who we need to continue to pressure to see this crisis through.

I don’t know about knee jerk military movements right now by us, maybe months ago, but not now. I think the problem continues to be Europe, mainly Germany and their commitment. Biggest economy, biggest buyer of energy from Russia. That’s who we need to continue to pressure to see this crisis through.

Leave it to Germany to send a carrier group into the Aegean, first and foremost, it won't get done because Germany doesn't have any aircraft carriers, lol. Sending ground forces doesn't threaten anything without air superiority.

Further, choosing now to bicker between NATO allies rather than projecting a united front towards Putin would only embolden him, not the other way around. A strategic genius you are not, good God.

There needs to be a genuine and credible threat to Putin that we NATO will defend whoever the fuck we want whenever the fuck we want. Otherwise he's going to roll in there and annex the portion east of the western edge of the Black Sea to enhance his access to warm water ports.

Leave it to Germany to send a carrier group into the Aegean, first and foremost, it won't get done because Germany doesn't have any aircraft carriers, lol. Sending ground forces doesn't threaten anything without air superiority.

Further, choosing now to bicker between NATO allies rather than projecting a united front towards Putin would only embolden him, not the other way around. A strategic genius you are not, good God.

There needs to be a genuine and credible threat to Putin that we NATO will defend whoever the fuck we want whenever the fuck we want. Otherwise he's going to roll in there and annex the portion east of the western edge of the Black Sea to enhance his access to warm water ports.

Yeah didnt suggest Germany send in a carrier group or any of that, but continue to work with Germany to take a stronger position and commitment. I think right now talks are with France and maybe England with Russia currently.

I happened to pull up a map with Russian troop positions in Belarus; that poses quite the problem for Ukraine. Not only is the border with Russia a front, but most of the north. Belarus says Russian troops gonna leave in a couple months after their “training”. I dont know what could be done, but expelling those troops from Belarus…if any nato allies would have influence, that seems top of mind. Probably wishful thinking

I don’t know about knee jerk military movements right now by us, maybe months ago, but not now. I think the problem continues to be Europe, mainly Germany and their commitment. Biggest economy, biggest buyer of energy from Russia. That’s who we need to continue to pressure to see this crisis through.

I'm not sure it is all that of a knee jerk movement.

Russia doesn't want a military war with us. They are most effective when dealing with cyberattacks and espionage. If this escalated to a conflict I think Putin would lose more than he would want. I am also just speculating here but as China and Russia have become more comfortable allies I don't see him upstaging the Beijing Olympics. Have Xi mad at him is not the route he wants either.

Note: I don't want American troops to be there. I hate sending young Americans to die for ideology of old men but that is the nature of conflict. Old men too stubborn to compromise.

I'm not sure it is all that of a knee jerk movement.

Russia doesn't want a military war with us. They are most effective when dealing with cyberattacks and espionage. If this escalated to a conflict I think Putin would lose more than he would want. I am also just speculating here but as China and Russia have become more comfortable allies I don't see him upstaging the Beijing Olympics. Have Xi mad at him is not the route he wants either.

Note: I don't want American troops to be there. I hate sending young Americans to die for ideology of old men but that is the nature of conflict. Old men too stubborn to compromise.

I dunno, seems like maybe that shoulda been done months ago. This ramp up of the massing troops been going on a year.

I don’t think anybody wants US troops engaged in combat.

Biden should have kept sanctions on the norad pipeline, coulda been great leverage